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Over three hundred and fifty years
were to pass before a mild-mannered Englishman finally cracked
the mystery in 1995. Fermat by then was far more than a
theorem. Whole lives had been devoted to the quest for a
solution. There was Sophie Germain, who had to take on the
identity of a man to conduct research in a field forbidden to
females. The dashing Evariste Galois scribbled down the
results of his research deep into the night before sauntering
out to die in a duel. The Japanese genius Yutaka Taniyama
killed himself in despair, while the German industrialist Paul
Wolfskehl claimed Fermat had saved him from
suicide.
Andrew Wiles had dreamed of proving Fermat ever since he
first read about the theorem as a boy of ten in his local
library. Whilst the hopes of others had been dashed, his dream
was destined to come true - but only after years of toil and
frustration, of exhilarating breakthrough and crashing
disappointment. Fermat's Last Theorem is
the true story of how mathematics' most challenging
problem was made to yield its secrets is a thrilling tale of
endurance, ingenuity and inspiration.
You can buy signed copies of
Fermat's Last Theorem at the
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