For over 350 years, some of the greatest minds of mathematics struggled to prove what was known as Fermat’s Last Theorem—the idea that a certain simple equation had no solutions.
Blessed with a supreme natural talent, Dr. Andrew Wiles has a math brain to match, possessing spare mental capacity that enabled him to solve the world’s greatest mathematical problem.…. “I had this rare privilege of being able to pursue in my adult life, what had been my childhood dream.”
As one of the greatest mathematicians of this century Dr. Andrew Wiles had exceptional ambition, confidence, intelligence, motivation, dedication and determination. What set him apart and helped account for his unprecedented length of time at the top of his research was a pure passion for number theory and an endless quest for the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Dr. Andrew Wiles first learned about Fermat’s Last Theorem as a child: “I was a ten year old, and one day I happened to be looking in my local public library and I found a book on math, and it told a bit about the history of this problem and I, a ten year old, could understand it. From that moment I tried to solve it myself, it was such a challenge, such a beautiful problem.”
In number theory, Fermat’s Last Theorem states that no three positive integers a, b, and c can satisfy the equation a^n + b^n = c^n for any integer value of n greater than two. This theorem was first conjectured by Pierre de Fermat in 1637, but was not proven until Wiles’ general proof in 1995 despite the efforts of many illustrious mathematicians.
“I have a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too small to contain.” Pierre de Fermat : 821