dumbass
Larry Shiller wrote:
ShillerMath Tidbits: Biography Series #2
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Fermat and Wiles: A 330 year relationship
A 220 page margin intertwined two lives...
A Frenchman, lawyer, and "only" an amateur mathematician, Pierre de
Fermat lived from 1601 to 1665 and gained a well-deserved reputation
for original work in geometry and number theory. A surprising footnote
is that he survived the plague in 1653. Another is that he found
errors in the works of both Galileo and Descartes - for which the
latter tried to destroy Fermat's reputation!
Fermat's Last Theorem states that the equation x^n + y^n = z^n has no
non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2. Until 1994, it
was also known as Fermat's Last Conjecture: Fermat wrote, in the
margin of Bachet's translation of Diophantus's Arithmetica, "I have
discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is not large
enough to contain." Little did he realize it would take 340 years and
a 220 page margin for others to discover!
The British mathematician Andrew Wiles apparently proved Fermat's
conjecture in June 1993. But close examination revealed that one piece
of the proof - the proof of the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture - which
required the bridging of two seemingly unrelated branches of
mathematics, was not complete. The person who proved the
Taniyama-Shimura conjecture would get the credit for proving Fermat's
Last theorem. In November 1994 it was again Wiles who claimed to have
a complete and correct proof, which has now been accepted.
Born April 11, 1953, Sir Andrew John Wiles enjoys a distinguished
career as a brilliant number theorist. He was educated at The Leys
School Cambridge, graduated from the University of Oxford in 1974, and
earned his Ph.D. at Clare College of the University of Cambridge in
1979. Sir Wiles is now a Professor and Chair of the Mathematics
Department at Princeton University.
In the future we will take a look at other great unsolved math
mysteries. In the next ShillerMath Tidbit we debunk a common math
learning myth.
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Mathematics and the Arts...
For those of you who love math and partake in such mundane matters as
watching movies or TV, here is a short don't-miss titles list:
Numb3rs. On this TV show in its 3rd season, David Krumholtz plays
Charlie Eppes, TV's first major character who is a mathematician - and
a pretty darn good one at that!
Proof. Written by David Auburn, this play features mathematicians in
three of the four main roles. Alas it attempts to prove more than just
theorems but that's where things get interesting...
Fermat's Last Tango. A musical by Joshua Rosenblum and Joanne Sydney
Lessner with numbers (sorry!) like "AfterMath" and ""Math Widow"
(golf, anyone?). The perfect follow-up to this month's tidbit.
I hope you enjoyed this short math break.
Sincerely,
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Larry Shiller
Publisher
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