フェルマーの最終定理―ピュタゴラスに始まり、ワイルズが証明するまで [単行本]

'I have a truly marvellous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.' It was with these words, written in the 1630s, that Pierre de Fermat intrigued and infuriated the mathematics community. For over 350 years, proving Fermat's Last Theorem was the most notorious unsolved mathematical problem, a puzzle whose basics most children could grasp but whose solution eluded the greatest minds in the world. In 1993, after years of secret toil, Englishman Andrew Wiles announced to an astounded audience that he had cracked Fermat's Last Theorem. He had no idea of the nightmare that lay ahead. In 'Fermat's Last Theorem' Simon Singh has crafted a remarkable tale of intellectual endeavour spanning three centuries, and a moving testament to the obsession, sacrifice and extraordinary determination of Andrew Wiles: one man against all the odds. --このテキストは、 ペーパーバック 版に関連付けられています。

3以上の自然数nに対してXn+Yn=Znを満たすような自然数X、Y、Zはない。「私はこの命題の真に驚くべき証明をもっているが、余白が狭すぎるのでここに記すことはできない」。17世紀にフェルマーが残した超難問を、数学者ワイルズが1995年に完全証明した。ピュタゴラスに始まる数論、解決のカギとなった「谷山=志村予想」など、数学をめぐる「歴史ドラマ」を、分かりやすく感動的に描いた傑作。

17世紀にフェルマーが残した数学界最大の「超難問」は、いかにして解かれたか。ピュタゴラスに始まる数論から、数学者ワイルズが完全証明するまで、3世紀にわたった数学を巡る「歴史ドラマ」を分かりやすく感動的に描く。

When Andrew Wiles of Princeton University announced a solution of Fermat's last theorem in 1993 it electrified the world of mathematics. After a flaw was discovered in the proof, Wiles had to work for another year--he had already labored in solitude for seven years--to establish that he had solved the 350-year-old problem. Simon Singh's book is a lively, comprehensible explanation of Wiles's work and of the star-, trauma-, and wacko-studded history of Fermat's last theorem. Fermat's Enigma contains some problems that offer a taste for the math, but it also includes limericks to give a feeling for the goofy side of mathematicians.
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xⁿ + yⁿ = zⁿ, where n represents 3, 4, 5, ...no solution

"I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain."

With these words, the seventeenth-century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat threw down the gauntlet to future generations. What came to be known as Fermat's Last Theorem looked simple; proving it, however, became the Holy Grail of mathematics, baffling its finest minds for more than 350 years. In Fermat's Enigma--based on the author's award-winning documentary film, which aired on PBS's "Nova"--Simon Singh tells the astonishingly entertaining story of the pursuit of that grail, and the lives that were devoted to, sacrificed for, and saved by it. Here is a mesmerizing tale of heartbreak and mastery that will forever change your feelings about mathematics.
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"An excellent account of one of the most dramatic and moving events of the century."
--Sir Roger Penrose, New York Times Book Review

"It is hard to imagine a more gripping account of...this centuries-long drama of ingenious failures, crushed hopes, fatal duels, and suicides."
--Jim Holt, The Wall Street Journal

"Though Singh may not ask us to bring too much algebra to the table, he does expect us to appreciate a good detective story."
--Boston Sunday Globe

"The history of mathematics comes alive even for those who dread balancing their checkbooks."
--Publishers Weekly

"Singh captures the joys and frustrations of this quest for an extremely elusive proof...and builds to a truly engrossing climax. It's a mathematical page-turner."
--Library Journal

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Simon Singh received his PhD from the University of Cambridge. A former BBC producer, he directed the BAFTA Award-winning documentary film 'Fermat's Last Theorem', about Andrew Wiles and the world's most famous maths problem, and he wrote the book of the same title. He is also the author of 'The Code Book' and 'Big Bang'. --このテキストは、 ペーパーバック 版に関連付けられています。