Fermat’s Enigma
by Simon Singh (1998)
“The Last Theorem is at the heart of an intriguing saga of courage, skulduggery, cunning, and tragedy, involving all the greatest heroes of mathematics.”
This books chronicles the history of Fermat’s Last Theorem, beginning with the teachings of Pythagoras in 6th century BC, leading into Fermat’s claim that he had the proof figured out in the 17th century, all the way to the final proof of the theorem in the mid-1990s. Mathematicians throughout history tried to prove this particular problem, and as more and more failed the more it essentially became a race. I mean, imagine being able to say you proved what past mathematicians such as Euler, Cauchy, and Gauss could not.
From the viewpoint of someone who works more with applied math, this book made me appreciate those who work in pure math, specifically number theorists. This is math most people, including myself, will never use, as they work on the types of problems that takes years to understand. It's also probably why Fermat’s Last Theorem has been a topic in popular culture, since the problem was at least easy to understand.
One of the best parts of this book is the heartbreaking section on Goro Shimura and Yutaka Taniyama, who together posited the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture in the mid-1950s and acted as a major missing link to prove the theorem. Unfortunately, Taniyama committed suicide and was unable to see his conjecture and the Last Theorem proved in the 1990s. I appreciated how section of the book highlighted their contributions and wished that they had more recognition for their work.