The Man Who Solved the World’s Hardest Math Problem

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Imagine being a suicidal Industrialist but being motivated to live by a math problem.

Everytime I listen to Wiles's work on Fermat's last theorem I get incredibly amazed by his passion and determination to complete the dream of his life. Truly a remarkable person

I've watched that original documentary and its amazing how emotional Andrew gets. You can see the passion for the problem in how he barely is able to get out the words "Nothing I ever do again will...." as he almost bursts into tears. I would say 99% of people would just say "umm..its just a math problem!". To him though, this represented the culmination of an entire lifetime of dedication that has finally been realized. A quote given by Simon Singh from what Piet Hein said: "Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back". That is this entire journey in a nutshell.

I don't think Andrew's proof would fit in the margin.

I felt that!.. when he broke into tears 💪

sucks that in the world we live in today people are hesitant to share their ideas due to it being stolen etc. Imagine how much further we could progress in science if it were the opposite

And here I am trying to solve the mystery of why my steak is always overcooked.

Having the motivation to solve an unsolved problem at the age of 10 is just mind boggling

The reason that Wiles kept his work on Fermat’s Last Theorem secret wasn’t that he feared others might steal his thunder. The reason was that by the mid-20th century trying to prove the theorem was something that drew in cranks and crackpots. No serious mathematician worked on Fermat’s theorem if he valued his reputation in the world of mathematicians.

Wow, that video was absolutely incredible! Watching Andrew Wiles persevere through all those challenges and finally solve the theorem was so inspiring. It really shows that with enough determination and hard work, you can overcome any obstacle. Truly amazing!

Dear Ms Pom, thank you again for a fantastic exposition of a truly inspiring story. All your videos are amazing. I remember that I was doing my PhD at the time, watched the documentary on British tv, and read the book by Simon Singh.

Thanks for explaining. I could not get such holistic, simplified explanation elsewhere

This was an excellent talk.

Nice video. A woman was involved in the early attempts: Sophie Germain who had to disguised herself as Monsieur Leblanc to avoid discrimination. She was communicating to Euler and eventually had to admit that she was a woman when Euler planned to me M. Leblanc in Paris.... She had feared that Euler would be angry that she posed as a woman. He was not at all.

This is what impresses me. Passion and dedication. Well done sir!

I remember reading about this when it happened. It made world news.

I have learnt an incredible amount without understanding..........from this man.

IF we assume Fermat didn't lie about having a proof, there should now be an award for someone discovering a proof that doesn't require any new math invented in the last 350 years.

I wonder what Fermat’s idea for the solution was. We’ll never know, but it’s interesting to think about