Sakura of DOOM

In 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:
- tenemet's review
- yhlee's review

(subtitle: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography)

Er, this book is precisely on what the subtitle says. Singh basically takes the reader through the development of codes and ciphers throughout history, stopping to observe particularly historic moments for cryptography, along with going behind the people who made the major breakthroughs.

(An as-you-know-Bob: Codes encrypt by replacing entire words or phrases by other words or phrases while ciphers encrypt via letter substitution.)

I usually read non-fiction very, very slowly (think months), but I went through this book very quickly. Singh's prose isn't remarkable, but it is extremely clear without being dull, and he has a real gift for explaining things not only so I understand them, but so that I also get why the ideas or breakthroughs were really cool and exciting. While this may sound like damning with faint praise, I think it really is a very difficult thing to do, to write in prose so clear that the reader doesn't notice it and still manage to convey both ideas and emotion. I only wish more non-fiction writers could do this (Feynman was also really, really good at this. Plus, Feynman was funny). Singh also manages to relate the history of cryptography so that it feels like a story; there's dramatic tension and everything, which made the book not-so-ideal before-bed reading (I kept doing the "Just one more chapter.... just one more..." thing).

I'm not sure what my favorite parts were, because they were all pretty fascinating. Some highlights were the discussion of the importance of cryptography and cryptanalysts during World War II, and of course, the famous breaking of the Enigma cypher, which made me very geekily happy. Singh goes into how the Enigma machine worked and the various strategies different people used to try and crack it, and well, it was riveting! I swear, it was. The other part that made me very, very geekily happy was the decipherment of Linear B, an ancient language found on Crete, and when I was reading it, I just wanted to squee and wave my hands and yelp "Wow, that's SO COOL!" But then, I very much like puzzles and crosswords and the processes of figuring things out.

And Singh even manages to explain quantum cryptography (really odd stuff) in a way that I can sort of grasp -- I figure he is simplifying a great deal, so very mathy people (i.e. yhlee and fannishly) may be sort of annoyed by how he glosses over things, but it was quite illuminating for a layperson.

Anyhow, this was a really fun read, and now I want to pick up Singh's Fermat's Enigma. I like these mathy sciencey things, but usually the authors lose me because I have basically zero background, so it was nice to find something that I could sort of get and get excited about as well!

Links:
- furyofvissarion's review