Pierre de Fermat
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Pierre de Fermat (August 17, 1601 – January 12, 1665) was a French magistrate and government official. He, however, is most famous for being an amateur mathematician. His name is attached to several results in number theory, though he worked in many other areas of mathematics as well.
Fermat had a respectable background, and had a formal education, rare for the time. He became a civil servant in both the executive and judicial branches of his provincial government, and rose rapidly in the ranks of his peers due to his prowess at the job and an illness that was taking the life of many of his colleagues. He continued serving in these positions until he died.
The work Fermat produced spanned many different areas of mathematics; however, he worked most and was most famous for his accomplishments in number theory. The best-known problem he posed is known as Fermat's Last Theorem, which remained unsolved for hundreds of years. Fermat claimed to have a proof for this problem, but this is doubtful. Other notable areas which Fermat worked in were analytic geometry and laying the foundations of calculus
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Biography
Pierre de Fermat was born in the town of Beaumont-deLomagne, in the southerwestern portion of France. His father (named Dominique) was a rich merchant who dealt in leather, and thus Fermat was able to enjoy a formal education. He attended the Franciscan monastery in Grandselve, and then the University of Toulouse. No record shows that he was particularly adept with numbers.
His family urged him to take a career in the civil service, and he complied; being appointed conseiller au Parlement de Toulouse (councilor of the Chamber of Petitions of Toulouse) in 1631. This job entailed hearing locals who wished to petition the king and either approving or declining their requests. Fermat's duties also included enforcing royal decrees; in one sense he was the link between the royal government and the province of Toulouse. He was very efficient in this job, as well as another judiciary career as a magistrate in the side.
This efficiency, as well as a plague that was killing off his superior colleagues (Fermat himself fell ill in 1652; and in fact one of his colleagues announced his death prematurely) enabled him to be promoted rapidly; and he became a minor sort of nobility; permitting him to add "de" to his name. Fermat survived both the plague and the political intrigues common of the era, particularly those relating to Cardinal Richelieu.
Fermat signed his last judicial notice on January 9, 1665, in the town of Castres. He died three days later.
Work
See Also
References
- Singh, Simon (1997). Walker and Company; New York. Fermat's Enigma. ISBN 0-8027-1331-9.
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