| Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem Contributor(s): Singh, Simon (Author), Lynch, John (Foreword by) |
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ISBN: 0385493622 ISBN-13: 9780385493628 Publisher: Anchor Books OUR PRICE: $17.10 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 1998 Annotation: 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. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Mathematics | History & Philosophy - Mathematics | Reference |
| Dewey: 512.74 |
| LCCN: 98027262 |
| Lexile Measure: 1300 |
| Physical Information: 0.88" H x 4.92" W x 7.06" (0.52 lbs) 336 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher 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. |