Singh, Simon - Fermat's Enigma
Thu, Aug. 3rd, 2006 01:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterIn 1995, Andrew Wiles managed to prove Fermat's Last Theorem, a 300-year-old mathematical puzzle (There is no non-integer solution for x, y, and z for the statement "x^n + y^n = z^n" when n > 2).
I'm sorry, I'm just going to sit a while and boggle at that statement, because it is so cool.
I'm not much of a math or science person, but there will always be a part of me that is perpetually starry-eyed over scientific and mathematical discoveries, the people behind them, and all the work and effort behind those moments of insight.
Singh collaborated with NOVA to create a documentary about Andrew Wiles and the solving of Fermat's Last Theorem and ended up writing a book on the subject as well. He delves into the lives of mathematicians who have been touched by Fermat's Last Theorem (one of the more interesting stories involves a mathematician on the brink of suicide). Singh's overview of the mathematical theorems and conjectures that went on behind the proof is cogent and makes me feel like I roughly understand what's going on, though I suspect the mathematics behind it are far, far, far over my head.
I just loved how the book brought together all these disparate pieces and showed the story behind not just Wiles' proof, but the evolution of the theorem and ideas behind it through the centuries. And I loved how Wiles' proof relied on so many other discoveries and conjectures. Singh makes it very clear that Wiles' proof has some amazing number theory in and of itself, and that even a flawed proof would have been groundbreaking because of the methods Wiles invented. But the real draw for me was the idea of a mathematical community, of ideas leading to other ideas.
And going in, I knew nothing of the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture, or of modular equations (I did actually know about elliptical ones), or of their importance to modern mathematics. And it's just so cool thinking that despite the niftiness of finally proving a 300-year-old mathematical theorem, there's also the niftiness of changing the landscape of mathematics, and the thought that all this was happening while I was sitting somewhere, probably dozing through a math class.
Links:
-![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tenemet's review
-yhlee's review
I'm sorry, I'm just going to sit a while and boggle at that statement, because it is so cool.
I'm not much of a math or science person, but there will always be a part of me that is perpetually starry-eyed over scientific and mathematical discoveries, the people behind them, and all the work and effort behind those moments of insight.
Singh collaborated with NOVA to create a documentary about Andrew Wiles and the solving of Fermat's Last Theorem and ended up writing a book on the subject as well. He delves into the lives of mathematicians who have been touched by Fermat's Last Theorem (one of the more interesting stories involves a mathematician on the brink of suicide). Singh's overview of the mathematical theorems and conjectures that went on behind the proof is cogent and makes me feel like I roughly understand what's going on, though I suspect the mathematics behind it are far, far, far over my head.
I just loved how the book brought together all these disparate pieces and showed the story behind not just Wiles' proof, but the evolution of the theorem and ideas behind it through the centuries. And I loved how Wiles' proof relied on so many other discoveries and conjectures. Singh makes it very clear that Wiles' proof has some amazing number theory in and of itself, and that even a flawed proof would have been groundbreaking because of the methods Wiles invented. But the real draw for me was the idea of a mathematical community, of ideas leading to other ideas.
And going in, I knew nothing of the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture, or of modular equations (I did actually know about elliptical ones), or of their importance to modern mathematics. And it's just so cool thinking that despite the niftiness of finally proving a 300-year-old mathematical theorem, there's also the niftiness of changing the landscape of mathematics, and the thought that all this was happening while I was sitting somewhere, probably dozing through a math class.
Links:
-
tenemet's review-
yhlee's reviewTags: