'I have a truly marvellous demonstration of this proposition which this margin i
s too narrow to contain.' It was with these words, written in the 1630s, that Pi
erre de Fermat intrigued and infuriated the mathematics community. For over 350
years, proving Fermat's Last Theorem was the most notorious unsolved mathematica
l problem, a puzzle whose basics most children could grasp but whose solution el
uded the greatest minds in the world. In 1993, after years of secret toil, Engli
shman 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 La
st 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.
