Closing in on Fermat's last theorem. (Pierre de Fermat)

From: Science News | Date: June 20, 1987 | Copyright information

Closing in on Fermat's last theorem

One of the most famous unsolved problems in mathematicsstarted out as a note scrawled in the margin of a book. Now known as Fermat's last theorem, the problem was first proposed by 17th-century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat. Although he had a wonderful proof for the theorem, Fermat wrote in the book's margin, he didn't have enough room to write it out. After Fermat's death, scholars could find no trace of the proof in any of h...

Read all of this article with a FREE trial to HighBeam Research

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research

Curving beyond Fermat's last theorem.(mathematicians offer proof of Taniyama-Shimura theorem)(Brief Article)
Science News ; ... larger effort, since other work had established a link between elliptic curves and Fermat's last theorem (SN: 6/20/87, p. 397). News that Brian Conrad and Richard Taylor of Harvard University, along with Christophe Breuil of the Universite Paris-Sud and Fred ...
Closing in on Fermat's last theorem. (Pierre de Fermat)
Science News ; Closing in on Fermat's last theorem One of the most famous unsolved problems in mathematicsstarted out as a note scrawled in the margin of a book. Now known as Fermat's last theorem, the problem was first proposed by 17th-century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat. Although he had a wonderful
Sure, Pierre. Sure you knew. (Andrew Wiles may have proven Pierre Fermat's last theorem) (1993 - The Year in Science)
Discover ; IF PIERRE FERMET WASN'T THE GREATEST MATHEMATICIAN OF ALL TIME, HE CERTAINLY RANKS AS ONE OF THE MOST ANNOYING. MORE THEN 350 YEARS AGO THE FRENCH POLYMATH SCRAWLED A THEROREM OF SWEEPING GENERALITY IN THE MARGIN OF A GREEK TREATISE ON MATHEMATICS AND THEN ADDED THIS TANTALIZING NOTE: I HAVE
The Fermat Grail
Jerusalem Post ; Meir Ronnen Jerusalem Post 03-27-1997 FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM: Unlocking the Secret of an Ancient Mathematical Problem by Amir D. Aczel. New York/London, Four Walls Eight Windows. 200pp. $18. BEYOND THE THIRD DIMENSION: Geometry, Computer Graphics and Higher Dimensions by Thomas F. Banchoff. New
A curvy path leads to Fermat's last theorem. (mathematician Andrew Wiles establishes truth of Fermat's last theorem)
Science News ; After more than 300 years, Fermat's last theorem may finally live up to its common designation as a theorem. In a dramatic announcement that caught the mathematical community completely by surprise, Andrew Wiles of Princeton University revealed last week that he had proved major parts of a
The last laugh. (Pierre de Fermat's "last theorem" )
The Economist (US) ; ... Yoichi Miyaoka of Tokyo Metropolitan University. This has been heralded as a great breakthrough. Perhaps, but it is also bad news. To see why, look first at the theorem. It is about sums containing powers, such as [2.sup.2], [2.sup.3], [2.sup.4], and so on ...
SHORT TAKES
The Boston Globe ; FERMAT'S ENIGMA The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem By Simon Singh. Walker and Co. 288 pp. $22. Amanda Heller is a critic and editor who lives in Newton. "I have a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain." This
STORY OF A MATHEMATICAL TREASURE ADDS UP TO INTRIGUING READING.(Lifestyle)(Review)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, WA) ; Here's a scene that almost surely took place in Paris more than half a century ago: At a Left Bank cafe near the Sorbonne, Ernest Hemingway sits at a table trying to write, but he is bothered by the noise of a group of mathematicians arguing heatedly over matters that Hemingway, and most of the
(book reviews)
Renaissance Quarterly ; This book is the second edition of a significant work that focuses on the thought of the early seventeenth-century French mathematician, Pierre de Fermat. Mahoney's goals are twofold: to give as full account as possible of the life and mathematical career of Pierre de Fermat, and to make a
Last word not yet in on Fermat's conjecture. (Fermat's last theorem)
Science News ; Last June, mathematician Andrew Wiles of Princeton University stunned the mathematical community and drew worldwide attention when he dramatically announced a proof of Fermat's last theorem. A year later, the arguments presented by Wiles stand as a considerable mathematical achievement, but a