Fermat's enigma

the epic quest to solve the world's greatest mathematical problem

1st Anchor Books edition
  • 3.94 ·
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  • 24 Have read

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  • 3.94 ·
  • 17 Ratings
  • 76 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 24 Have read

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Last edited by ImportBot
December 20, 2023 | History

Fermat's enigma

the epic quest to solve the world's greatest mathematical problem

1st Anchor Books edition
  • 3.94 ·
  • 17 Ratings
  • 76 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 24 Have read

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.

Publish Date
Publisher
Anchor Books
Language
English
Pages
315

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Previews available in: English Spanish German French

Edition Availability
Cover of: Fermat's last theorem
Cover of: El enigma de Fermat
El enigma de Fermat
September 2004, Planeta
Paperback in Spanish
Cover of: Fermats letzter Satz
Cover of: Le Dernier Théorème de Fermat
Le Dernier Théorème de Fermat
July 31, 2000, J.-C. Lattès, JC Lattès
Paperback in French
Cover of: El Ultimo Teorema de Fermat
El Ultimo Teorema de Fermat
June 1999, Grupo Editorial Norma
Paperback in Spanish
Cover of: Fermat's enigma
Fermat's enigma: the epic quest to solve the world's greatest mathematical problem
1998, Anchor Books
in English - 1st Anchor Books edition
Cover of: Fermat's Enigma
Cover of: Fermat's enigma
Cover of: Fermat's enigma
Cover of: Fermat's enigma

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Book Details


Published in

New York

Table of Contents

1.
"I Think I'll Stop Here" -- 1 -- 2.
The Riddler -- 35 -- 3.
A Mathematical Disgrace -- 71 -- 4.
Into Abstraction -- 121 -- 5.
Proof by Contradiction -- 171 -- 6.
The Secret Calculation -- 205 -- 7.
A Slight Problem -- 255 -- Epilogue
Grand Unified Mathematics -- 279
Suggestions for Further Reading -- 301
Picture Credits-- 306.

Edition Notes

Originally published: New York : Walker, 1997.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-305) and index.

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
512/.74
Library of Congress
QA244 .S55 1998

The Physical Object

Pagination
xviii, 315 p.
Number of pages
315

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL24929145M
ISBN 10
0385493622
ISBN 13
9780385493628
LCCN
98027262
OCLC/WorldCat
39261994

Excerpts

It was the most important mathematics lecture of the century.
added anonymously.

Links outside Open Library

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
December 20, 2023 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
September 10, 2023 Edited by cliffge add edition and cover
December 23, 2022 Edited by Stew Update covers
November 7, 2022 Edited by bitnapper Merge works (MRID: 22521)
October 13, 2009 Created by WorkBot create work page