Location: Home > Science & Nature > Algebraic Number Theory > Fermat's Last Theorem

Fermat's Last Theorem

Author: Simon Singh
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł8.99~~
Buy New: Ł3.55
You Save: Ł5.44 (61%)

New (30) Used (10) from Ł3.55

Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

125 reviews
Sales Rank: 3413

Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1

ISBN: 1841157910
Dewey Decimal Number: 509
EAN: 9781841157917
ASIN: 1841157910

Publication Date: June 5, 2002
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 125

« PREV

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

... 25 NEXT »

Brilliant December 20, 2007
The best bit about this book is that it is about people, crazy, clever, sad, mad and then about the numbers they were interested in. It really woke an interest in something I was not interested in.

2 out of 5 stars

Going against the grain here... September 27, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

But I've got to say that I didn't really enjoy this book. There were areas that I thought should have been explored and explained more thoroughly, while some parts just got too much coverage.

The two Japanese chaps were worthy of far greater discussion for me, given the obvious differences between them and the rest of the mathematical community of the day, and Wiles himself was painted with very broad brush strokes by the author.

The bit between the problem with the original proof and its rectification was explained in too much detail given that we all knew that far into the book that it would work out in the end.

I was expecting a surprise and a big twist at the end. And all I got was a lengthy revised proof! I agree that it is highly unlikely, if not almost impossible that Fermat had a proof all those years ago. I was expecting Wiles to find, having been the long way round, that there was a massive simplification possible, and for him to arrive at a direct route to the proof that would have been open to Fermat without going round the block for 300 years.

Then again, it is a good subject with a great story, one that deserves its place on the book stands, even if it didn't really light me up in the way some of it was handled.

But I realise I'm in a minority on this view, and am not knocking anyone else's opinion. 5 stars is in the eye of the beholder!

4 out of 5 stars

Good, but inferior to "The Code Book" September 12, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

As did most other readers, I thoroughly enjoyed Simon Singh's "Fermat's Last Theorem". Singh uses this holy grail of mathematics to provide an entertaining account of the history of number theory as well as a more detailed description of the years immediately surrounding Andrew Wiles' final proof. This is the second Simon Singh book I've read, the first being "The Code Book". The problem of this compared to "The Code Book" is that it feels rather less interactive and complete. In "The Code Book" Singh manages to really involve the reader in the encryption and code breaking process and only very rarely skips ideas and concepts that are too complicated for the intention of the book. In "Fermat" this is not really the case. We never truly gain an understanding of how Fermat's Last Theorem was actually proved, only a very broad survey of the people and concepts that paved the way. I understand that it is no easy task to present cutting edge mathematics in an easily digestible format, but it seems that once Singh gets into the 20th century he gives up altogether. There are plenty of mathematical appendices to the book, but most of them deal with old Greek proofs of Pythagoras and incidental forays into Game Theory, and not one of them relates to the mathematics directly required in proving Fermat.

Nonetheless this is a very entertaining history of mathematics that I found immensely difficult to put down. If you are interested in mathematical history and how mathematicians experience great discoveries this book has a lot to offer. If you want to learn mathematics, let alone understand how Fermat's Last Theorem was tackled, this can only serve as a historical supplement.

PS Be sure to check out the TV documentary of the same name, available on several well-known online video upload websites.

3 out of 5 stars

Could have been great... September 6, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

There is one thing I am almost absolutely certain about: Fermat NEVER had any proof for his so-called last theorem. It is possible that he thought he had a proof, but there is no way that he had a rigorous proof by today's standards. If you asked all the world's professional mathematicans today whether they believed it, I doubt you would find a single one who does. Despite of this Singh (for some kind of dramatic effect I guess) keeps pretending that it is generally considered that Fermat really had a valid proof. I find this so ludicrous that it almost destroys the pleasure of reading the book, which is otherwise well written and engaging.

5 out of 5 stars

thoroughly fascinating June 29, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

singh has a remarkable gift for drawing the reader into his subject and presenting what is clearly painstakingly well research in easily readable and thoroughly fascinating script.

the history of mathematics may seem a boring, esoteric subject, better suited to a dusty library shelf, but it's actually not. this book is filled the stories about the lengths mathematics researchers have gone to in adding to the knowledge base of their field. singh starts at pythagoras' theorem that x + y = z, explains how this is proved, and brings you on the journey that logically follows - leading right up to the proof that this is true only for squared numbers and not cubed or greater numbers. you really will be amazed, moved and drawn into these stories.