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Spectrum Ser.: Last Problem by E. T. Bell (1998, Trade Paperback)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherAmerican Mathematical Society

ISBN-100883854511

ISBN-139780883854518

eBay Product ID (ePID)1349324

Product Key Features

Number of Pages332 Pages

Publication NameLast Problem

LanguageEnglish

SubjectHistory & Philosophy, Number Theory

Publication Year1998

TypeTextbook

AuthorE. T. Bell

Subject AreaMathematics

SeriesSpectrum Ser.

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.7 in

Item Weight13.1 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

TitleLeadingThe

Dewey Edition21

Dewey Decimal512.7

Table Of Content1. Prospectus: unfinished business; 2. The far beginnings: Babylon and Egypt; 3. Philosophical interlude; 4. Alexander's contribution; 5. Cleopatra's gift; 6. From Euclid to Hypatia; 7. Dating - collapse - recovery; 8. The last Euclidean: Bachet (1581-1638); 9. Mathematician and jurist - Fermat; 10. The catalyst: Mersenne (1588-1648); 11. Friends and others; 12. From the correspondence of Fermat; 13. An age to remember; 14. The jurist; 15. Aftermath.

SynopsisWhat Eric Temple Bell calls the last problem is the problem of proving 'Fermat's Last Theorem', which Fermat wrote in the margin of a book almost 350 years ago. The original text of The Last Problem traced the problem from 2000 BC to 17th century France. Along the way we learn quite a bit about history, and just as much about mathematics. Underwood Dudley's notes bring us up-to-date on recent attempts to solve the problem - for the latest printing, he has added a three page addendum about its recent proof by Andrew Wiles. This book fits no categories. It is not a book of mathematics: it is a biography of a famous problem. Pages go by without an equation appearing. It is both a history of number theory and its place in our civilisation, and a history of our civilisation's relationship with mathematics. This rich and varied, wide-ranging book, written with force and vigor by someone with a distinctive style and point of view will provide hours of enjoyable reading for anyone interested in mathematics.

LC Classification NumberQA241 .B42 1990