num_pages: 315
description: 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.
language: English
title: Fermat's Enigma
titlecomplete: Fermat's Enigma
genres: Physics, Mathematics, Historical, History, Popular Science, Philosophy, Biography, Science, History Of Science, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 30209
awards: awardedAt: 883641600000
name: Royal Society Science Book Prize
category: General Prize, awardedAt: 883641600000
name: Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY)
category: Science
publisher: Walker and Company