» Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem

Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: A mathematical story that all adds up
Comment: While the overall theme of the book was how mathematician Andrew Wiles proved Fermat's last theorem, author Simon Singh used this event as the venue for discussing the history of number theory. Singh is able to do this because Wiles used a variety of techniques developed by earlier mathematicians. And here lies the great strength of the book.

The history of the math was described two ways, the actual math which was largely incomprehensible and biographies of the mathematicians which were warm, compelling and a delight to read. Some of the notable mathematical personalities discussed were the Greek mathematicians Pythagoras and Euclid, as well as Europeans Leonhard Euler, David Hilbert, and Alan Turing. The chapter "A mathematical disgrace" was particularly compelling for it discussed the maltreatment of women in mathematics, most notably Sophie Germaine and Emmy Nother. Also quite interesting was Singh's comparison of proof in mathematics versus experimental science, with the former relying on logic and the latter on reproducible observations.

Overall the writing style was very accessible and easy to understand (aside from the math) and the biographies were fascinating. This book was well worth reading for anyone interested in the history of science or mathematics, and the beauty of the biographies more than compensates for some difficult math. This should not be a surprise because Singh's Big Bang was a terrific read.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Really Good Reading - Highly Recommended!
Comment: "Fermat's Enigma" is a first rate crossover book that bridges the gap between the math focused academic's world with that of lay person who is interested in math theory but lacks the in-depth training to fully understand advanced concepts. While I enjoy math and passed calculus in High School, my father reminded me of Andrew Wiles and can see how the search (or really quest) can consume a person.

The book is very well written and is engaging form start to finnish. The examples and side stroies are also enjoyable and presented in a way almost anyone can follow.

Highly recommended!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Really good read!
Comment: I am not a avid reader and I read for an hour 2 or 3 times a week i.e if the book is good and after I started reading this book I just couldn't drop it. In fact I used to look up every evening to the time when I can start reading it from where I left off the previous night.
Its a great book if you are interested in history of math/science, the great minds, their lives, their hardships and frustrations back then and current trends. You don't need know a whole lot of math to understand this. If you understand the Pythagoras theorem you are good to go:)

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A decent read
Comment: While this book does make for an enjoyable read, it seems that the whole premise of the book is based on a false pretense. The magic of the quest to solve Fermat's Last Theorem is a direct result of him having written that he has discovered a proof for it. If he had written that he was unsure of a proof it is unlikely that it would have garnered much interest. While what Andrew Wiles has done is a remarkable piece of mathematics, it is most definitely not what Fermat had in mind when he scribbled on the margin of his Arithmetica. [Therefore it is difficult to understand why it should have made any difference to Wiles whether the attempted proof of Fermat by Yoichi Miyaoka in March 1988 was successful or not (as detailed in Chapter 6), as what Wiles was really working on proving was the Taniyama - Shimura Conjecture, and this was not touched upon by Miyaoka.] We are forced to assume that Fermat had erred in writing that he had a proof, which in turn removes the essential ingredient of the drama of this saga, namely figuring out what Fermat had discovered that eluded generations of mathematicians. Singh himself alludes to this in the end of his book, but I believe that this undermines the point of the book as a whole.
As to the book itself, the most interesting part for me were the brief presentations of landmark developments in number theory and mathematics of the course of the century. However, any with a strong background in math will already know much of what is covered in the first half, and anyone without a strong background in math will be lost by what is covered in the second half. Obviously, trying to condense the basic ideas of a one hundred page proof that only the top mathematicians in the world can understand into a chapter or two comprehensible to the average reader is an impossible task. This is what Singh attempts to do and fails, although not any worse than any other author would.
Bottom line, if you have a healthy interest in math and/or number theory you will enjoy parts of this book, and if you have a degree in math and/or number theory you will enjoy the other parts.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Infectiously enthusiastic
Comment: Who could have thought maths could be so much fun ! Told with infectious enthusiasm, this is the story of pure maths as well as the quest to solve one of its most challenging riddles of all time. Full of fascinating info, this is a true gem.

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