Difference between revisions of "Fermat's Last Theorem"
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==History== | ==History== | ||
| − | Fermat's last theorem was proposed by [[Pierre Fermat]] in the margin of his book ''Arithmetica''. The note in the margin (when translated) read: "It is impossible for a cube to be the sum of two cubes, a fourth power to be the sum of two fourth powers, or in general for any number that is a power greater than the second to be the sum of two like powers. I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition that this margin is too narrow to contain." Despite Fermat's claim that a simple proof existed, the theorem wasn't proven until [[Andrew Wiles]] did so in 1993. Interestingly enough, Wiles's proof was much more complicated than anything Fermat could have produced himself. | + | Fermat's last theorem was proposed by [[Pierre Fermat]] in the margin of his book ''Arithmetica''. The note in the margin (when translated) read: "It is impossible for a [[perfect cube | cube]] to be the sum of two cubes, a fourth power to be the sum of two fourth powers, or in general for any number that is a power greater than the second to be the sum of two like powers. I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition that this margin is too narrow to contain." Despite Fermat's claim that a simple proof existed, the theorem wasn't proven until [[Andrew Wiles]] did so in 1993. Interestingly enough, Wiles's proof was much more complicated than anything Fermat could have produced himself. |
== Books == | == Books == | ||
Revision as of 11:20, 30 October 2006
Fermat's Last Theorem is a long-unproved theorem stating that for non-zero integers 
with 
, there are no solutions to the equation: 
History
Fermat's last theorem was proposed by Pierre Fermat in the margin of his book Arithmetica. The note in the margin (when translated) read: "It is impossible for a cube to be the sum of two cubes, a fourth power to be the sum of two fourth powers, or in general for any number that is a power greater than the second to be the sum of two like powers. I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition that this margin is too narrow to contain." Despite Fermat's claim that a simple proof existed, the theorem wasn't proven until Andrew Wiles did so in 1993. Interestingly enough, Wiles's proof was much more complicated than anything Fermat could have produced himself.
