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by: SIMON SINGH  List Price: $13.95 Amazon.com's Price: $11.16 You Save: $2.79 (20%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 512.74 EAN: 9780385493628 Edition: 1st Anchor Books ed ISBN: 0385493622 Label: Anchor Manufacturer: Anchor Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 336 Publication Date: September 08, 1998 Publisher: Anchor Release Date: September 08, 1998 Studio: Anchor Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: 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 of the math, but it also includes limericks to give a feeling for the goofy side of mathematicians. Product Description: 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. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Really good read!I am not a avid reader and I read for an hour 2 or 3 times a week i.e if the book is good and after I started reading this book I just couldn't drop it. In fact I used to look up every evening to the time when I can start reading it from where I left off the previous night. Its a great book if you are interested in history of math/science, the great minds, their lives, their hardships and frustrations back then and current trends. You don't need know a whole lot of math to understand this. ... Read More Rating:  - A decent readWhile this book does make for an enjoyable read, it seems that the whole premise of the book is based on a false pretense. The magic of the quest to solve Fermat's Last Theorem is a direct result of him having written that he has discovered a proof for it. If he had written that he was unsure of a proof it is unlikely that it would have garnered much interest. While what Andrew Wiles has done is a remarkable piece of mathematics, it is most definitely not what Fermat had in mind when he scribbled ... Read More Rating: - Infectiously enthusiasticWho could have thought maths could be so much fun ! Told with infectious enthusiasm, this is the story of pure maths as well as the quest to solve one of its most challenging riddles of all time. Full of fascinating info, this is a true gem. Rating:  - This is how math SHOULD have been taught in schoolAlongside books like "Fantasia Mathematica", "Flatline" and "E=MC2", Fermat's Enigma does a fantastic job of showing both the human drama of mathematics, as well as the beauty of the science itself. Better than I've ever seen it put before, Singh captures how math is different from every other science - (my summary from pages 18-22) "Math is the pursuit for ultimate truth. Once a mathematical theorom is proven, it is true till the end of time. Scientific proofs, on ... Read More Rating: - Excellent reading - how to solve unsolvableYou will discover how one day dream can come true. From Pythagoras and Fermat and to Andrew Wiles - Simon Singh will help you to make more than 350 years way to solution of mystery in few hours (or in couple of days). This is really enjoyable historic reading - highly recommended. 
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