Fermat's last theorem : the story of a riddle that confounded the world's greatest minds for 358 years

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. The Story Of A Puzzle That Every Child Can Understand But Has Baffled Mathematicians For 300 Years. Aged Ten, Andrew Wiles Stumbled Across The Puzzle, Leading To A Lifelong Obsession With Solving The World's Greatest Mathematical Problem. A Story Of Human Endeavour And Intellectual Brilliance, For All Readers. Simon Singh. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Historien om Fermats store sætning, og beretningen om hvorledes det i 1995 efter syv års intenst arbejde lykkedes den engelsk-amerikanske matematiker Andrew Wiles at bevise den It was the most important mathematics lecture of the century.