31. Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem by Simon Singh

Category: 50 Books

31. Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem by Simon Singh

This all started with The Girl Who Played With Fire. In that book one of the main characters, Lisbeth Salander, is intrigued with this math problem. It adds nothing to the plot of that book (which, DON’T get me started). But while I was at the library seeing if they had something written by James Burke (that i don’t already own), this book, Fermat’s Enigma, jumped out at me.

This book is about Andrew Wiles and how he proved Fermat’s Last Theorum by using all kinds of crossover higher maths. The book’s jacket says that you don’t have to be a mathematician to enjoy the book, and that’s true. While some math is discussed, and lots of it you’ll recognize from high school, it’s not essential that you get the math to enjoy the history of the problem and even the history of mathematics.

As far as understanding proving the Theorum? The author doesn’t really go into it. I know that sounds like cheating, but do you think the casual reader is going to understand maths in modular and eliptical forms? No, of course not, so don’t expect any real a-ha! moments. It’s written for the common reader of nonfiction and not for math students/mathematicians to learn from. So you must think of this as an overview of the history of the problem and not an instruction manual for the proof itself.

It was surprisingly entertaining. I’d recommend it to people who like history.

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