This item is not eligible for Amazon Prime, but millions of other items are. Join Amazon Prime today. Already a member? Sign in.

28 used & new from $1.47
See All Buying Options

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Tell a Friend
Fermat's Last Theorem: The Story of a Riddle That Confounded the World's Greatest Minds for 358 Years
 
 
Please tell the publisher:
I'd like to read this book on Kindle
 
  

Fermat's Last Theorem: The Story of a Riddle That Confounded the World's Greatest Minds for 358 Years (Paperback)

by Simon Singh (Author) "It was the most important mathematics lecture of the century..." (more)
Key Phrases: whole number solutions, friendly numbers, quintic equations, Fermat's Last Theorem, Andrew Wiles, Ken Ribet (more...)
No customer reviews yet. Be the first.


Available from these sellers.


28 used & new available from $1.47
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 48 used & new from $1.49
Paperback (1st Anchor Books ed) $13.95 $11.16 85 used & new from $2.22
School & Library Binding $24.45 $24.45 3 used & new from $18.85
Audio Cassette (Abridged,Audiobook) 2 used & new from $117.35
 
   

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh

4.8 out of 5 stars (254)  $10.85
Big Bang: The Origin Of The Universe

Big Bang: The Origin Of The Universe by Simon Singh

4.4 out of 5 stars (70) 
Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics

Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics by William Dunham

4.9 out of 5 stars (67)  $10.88
Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics

Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics by John Derbyshire

4.5 out of 5 stars (83)  $10.88
The Golden Ratio: The Story of PHI, the World's Most Astonishing Number

The Golden Ratio: The Story of PHI, the World's Most Astonishing Number by Mario Livio

3.8 out of 5 stars (82)  $10.17
Explore similar items : Books (96)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
When Andrew Wiles of Princeton University announced a solution of Fermat's last theorem in 1993 it electrified the world of mathematics. After a flaw was discovered in the proof, Wiles had to work for another year--he had already labored in solitude for seven years--to establish that he had solved the 350-year-old problem. Simon Singh's book is a lively, comprehensible explanation of Wiles's work and of the star-, trauma-, and wacko-studded history of Fermat's last theorem. Fermat's Enigma contains some problems that offer a taste for the math, but it also includes limericks to give a feeling for the goofy side of mathematicians. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
YAAThe riveting story of a mathematical problem that sprang from the study of the Pythagorean theorem developed in ancient Greece. The book follows mathematicians and scientists throughout history as they searched for new mathematical truths. In the 17th century, a French judicial assistant and amateur mathematician, Pierre De Fermat, produced many brilliant ideas in the field of number theory. The Greeks were aware of many whole number solutions to the Pythagorean theorem, where the sum of two perfect squares is a perfect square. Fermat stated that no whole number solutions exist if higher powers replace the squares in this equation. He left a message in the margin of a notebook that he had a proof, but that there was insufficient space there to write it down. His note was found posthumously, but the solution remained a mystery for 350 years. Finally, after working in isolation for eight years, Andrew Wiles, a young British mathematician at Princeton University, published a proof in 1995. Although this famous question has been resolved, many more remain unsolved, and new problems continually arise to challenge modern minds. This vivid account is fascinating reading for anyone interested in mathematics, its history, and the passionate quest for solutions to unsolved riddles. The book includes 19 black-and-white photos of mathematicians and occasional sketches of ancient mathematicians as well as diagrams of formulas. The illustrations help to humanize the subject and add to the readability.APenny Stevens, Centreville Regional Library, Centreville, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details