Book Review

Title: Fermat’s Enigma
Author: Simon Singh

Pierre de Fermat wrote in the margins of one of his manuscripts: “I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain”. And thus began a 350 year chase by mathematicians to solve the riddle, known as Fermat’s Last Theorem.

The great thing about this book is that you don’t need to be good at math to enjoy the story. It is the thrill of the chase, the personalities and the struggle that maintain your attention, not the mathematics. According to Publisher’s Weekly (quoted on the back of the book):

The history of mathematics comes alive even for those who dread balancing their checkbooks, and anyone interested in the creative process will appreciate Singh’s insights into how a mathematician tackles such a monumental problem.

Library Journal says:

Singh captures the joys and frustrations of this quest for an extremely elusive proof … and builds to a truly engrossing climax. It’s a mathematical page-turner.

We learn the story of many individuals who contributed to this quest. We learn about Paul Wolfskehl, distraught over being spurned by a woman, decided to kill himself at midnight on a particular day. Wolfskehl set his papers in order on that fateful night and then to while away the time until midnight, he began reading previous efforts to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem. He thought he spotted a flaw in one proof, and began working diligently on the math involved, forgetting about his midnight deadline. By 6 am the next day, he had contributed to the mathematics and to the legend of Fermat’s Last Theorem, and Wolfskehl found a new purpose to his life.

We also learn the story of Andrew Wiles, the man who finally proved Fermat was right. Wiles was a gifted mathematician at Princeton, but during the late 1980s and 1990s he went into near seclusion to work on Fermat’s Last Theorem. At a mathematical conference in 1993, rumors began to fly that Wiles had solved the problem. Before a standing room only audience, Wiles wrote blackboard after blackboard of abstract, advanced mathematics, in what would be the lecture of the century. Then he wrote Fermat’s famous equation, and said “I think I’ll stop here.” The mathematical equivalent of winning the Super Bowl, Wiles received a boisterous standing ovation, something unheard of in mathematical lectures. (The picture of Wiles below was taken minutes after Wiles completed his lecture.)