preview

Fermat's Last Theorem Research Paper

Decent Essays

Fermat’s Last Theorem Pierre de Fermat, born in 1601, hailed by many as the "king of amateurs", was a French lawyer and mathematics hobbyist. In the margin of his copy of Diophantus’ Arithmetica, he scribbled a note that would perplex and puzzle event the greatest mathematicians for the next 350 years. In this margin, Fermat wrote that there were no positive integers that can fill in x, y, and z of xn+yn=zn, where n represents a number higher than two. This equation was based on Pythagorean triples, infinite triplets of numbers that could satisfy the equation xn+yn=zn where n represents 2. the problem arose when Fermat noted that, “I have found a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.” This supposed proof was never revealed. This was not strange for Fermat, as he had a reputation of concealing his proof in order to frustrate his colleagues, and in Arithmetica, he frequently left out his proof. The thing that made this particular equation stand out was the fact that after Fermat’s death in 1665 and the posthumous publishing of his Arithmetica, all other marginal conjectures were verified while this last …show more content…

The proof of the equation was left to the ages, as the greatest mathematicians of their times tried and failed to solve it, and like a fancy wine in a cellar, it soon became the

Get Access