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Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 512.74
EAN: 9780385493628
Edition: 1st Anchor Books ed
ISBN: 0385493622
Label: Anchor
Manufacturer: Anchor
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 336
Publication Date: September 08, 1998
Publisher: Anchor
Release Date: September 08, 1998
Studio: Anchor
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Editorial Review:
When Andrew Wiles of Princeton University announced a solution of Fermat's last theorem in 1993, it electrified the world of mathematics. After a flaw was discovered in the proof, Wiles had to work for another year--he had already labored in solitude for seven years--to establish that he had solved the 350-year-old problem. Simon Singh's book is a lively, comprehensible explanation of Wiles's work and of the star-, trauma-, and wacko-studded history of Fermat's last theorem. Fermat's Enigma contains some problems that offer a taste of the math, but it also includes limericks to give a feeling for the goofy side of mathematicians.
xn + yn = zn, where n represents 3, 4, 5, ...no solution"I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain."With these words, the seventeenth-century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat threw down the gauntlet to future generations. What came to be known as Fermat's Last Theorem looked simple; proving it, however, became the Holy Grail of mathematics, baffling its finest minds for more than 350 years. In Fermat's Enigma--based on the author's award-winning documentary film, which aired on PBS's "Nova"--Simon Singh tells the astonishingly entertaining story of the pursuit of that grail, and the lives that were devoted to, sacrificed for, and saved by it. Here is a mesmerizing tale of heartbreak and mastery that will forever change your feelings about mathematics.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - This is how math SHOULD have been taught in school
Alongside books like "Fantasia Mathematica", "Flatline" and "E=MC2", Fermat's Enigma does a fantastic job of showing both the human drama of mathematics, as well as the beauty of the science itself.
Better than I've ever seen it put before, Singh captures how math is different from every other science -
(my summary from pages 18-22)
"Math is the pursuit for ultimate truth. Once a mathematical theorom is proven, it is true till the end of time. Scientific proofs, on ... Read More
Rating:  - Excellent reading - how to solve unsolvable
You will discover how one day dream can come true. From Pythagoras and Fermat and to Andrew Wiles - Simon Singh will help you to make more than 350 years way to solution of mystery in few hours (or in couple of days). This is really enjoyable historic reading - highly recommended.
Rating: - Thoroughly enjoyable, re-rereadable book
I really enjoyed this book. It explains the search for a solution to one of the greatest mathmatical riddles in history. It goes deep into the creation of Andrew Wiles' solution. Plus, it only requires your attention to get past all the math. Knowledge of math beyond high school algebra and geometry isn't needed! The harder math is described enough for us non-mathematicians to get the idea and then move along with the story.
The start of the book sets the stage for Fermat's ideas. ... Read More
Rating: - A must-read!
To start with a very brief summary: This is a great book! I do agree that a book on how a mathematical problem was solved sounds extremey boring, but this could not be further from the truth. The book is packed with fascinating stories from ancient time until today. (Did you know that Pythagoras killed a student who calimed that the square root of 2 could not be written as a fraction?).
I highly recommend this book, and the same goes for the other books by Simon Singh (Big Bang and The ... Read More
Rating: - Fermat Math
Enjoyable and educational for the math buff. The book leads gradually up to the Fermat theorem and the reader passes a lot of math during that trip. It is well written and the tough problems are made as understandable for the layman as possible.
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