The World's Most Famous Math Problem: The Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem and Other Mathematical Mysteries: Amazon.ca: Marilyn vos Savant: Books

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"A delightful, informative, and accurate book about the probable proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. [This book is] highly recommended even to readers who think they hate math."--Martin Gardner

"Within a few minutes of the conclusion of his [Dr. Wiles's] final lecture, computer mail messages were winging around the world as mathematicians alerted each other to the startling and wholly unexpected result."--the New York Times

Product Description

June 23, 1993. A Princeton mathematician announces that he has unlocked, after thousands of unsuccessful attempts by others, the greatest mathematical riddle in the world. Dr. Wiles demonstrates to a group of stunned mathematicians that he has provided the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem (the equation x" + y" = z", where n is an integer greater than 2, has no solution in positive numbers), a problem that has confounded scholars for over 350 years.

Here in this brilliant new book, Marilyn vos Savant, the person with the highest recorded IQ in the world explains the mathematical underpinnings of Wiles's solution, discusses the history of Fermat's Last Theorem and other great math problems, and provides colorful stories of the great thinkers and amateurs who attempted to solve Fermat's puzzle.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
"EUREKA [I HAVE FOUND IT!] Then again, maybe I haven't." Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

34 Reviews

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1.8 out of 5 stars (34 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars Good publicity for math but not much else, Jan 6 2006

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john (County Wellington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World's Most Famous Math Problem: The Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem and Other Mathematical Mysteries (Paperback)

From a review written by two mathematicians:

"Is all publicity good publicity? Are popular books about mathematics, chock-full of inaccuracies and misunderstandings, nonetheless beneficial for the subject as a whole? Probably the answer is `yes', and this is just about the only good thing that can be said about this book, written by Marilyn vos Savant. You probably know of Marilyn vos Savant. She became famous because the Guinness Book of World Records presented her as the person with the highest IQ ever recorded, as a child and as an adult. As we shall discuss, her intelligence shines through in many places in the book, making it that much sadder that she could have written such drivel."

The rest may be found on Andrew Granville's homepage at www.dms.umontreal.ca/~andrew.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Im SO excited, Mar 26 2004

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Will T (West Midlands, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World's Most Famous Math Problem: The Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem and Other Mathematical Mysteries (Paperback)

Isn't it just marvelous, finally a chance to polish up my knowledge of the worlds most famous maths problem. I can't tell you how much me and my wife have enjoyed, and been entregued by this. Night-after-night, just laying down on the hay, having a laugh with this top quality piece of material. Maths world here I come.

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1.0 out of 5 stars A courageous woman, Dec 29 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The World's Most Famous Math Problem: The Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem and Other Mathematical Mysteries (Paperback)

I browsed the book in bookstore and I immediately became disgusted. After I recovered, I started to think positive as I stared at the averagely-looking face of this amazing woman that she put alongside Fermat. There's something special about this woman, I must admit, as evidenced by her apparent success. She must be a good transmitter to exposit to her equals what she learns from her equals, which is, of course, abundant in numbers. I think she has that exact mean IQ to fit into the job perfectly. But, I cannot forgive her talk about FLT, or General relativity.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, honest book
This is a fantastic book! I especially like the fact that she highlights several problems with the current state of mathematics, drawing this field (and maybe all of modern... Read more

Published on Nov 25 2003

1.0 out of 5 stars One star because I can't give zero...
Marilyn should have quit while she was ahead (with the Monty Hall problem). If I were the person with the highest IQ in the world, I would have made sure that I understood at... Read more

Published on May 20 2003