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  • Fermat's Last Theorem

  • The Story of a Riddle That Confounded the World's Greatest Minds for 358 Years
  • By: Simon Singh
  • Narrated by: David Rintoul
  • Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (372 ratings)

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Fermat's Last Theorem

By: Simon Singh
Narrated by: David Rintoul
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Summary

'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.

©2012 Simon Singh (P)2016 Audible, Ltd
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What listeners say about Fermat's Last Theorem

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My favourite book so far

You don't need to be a math professor to enjoy this book. There are mathematical concepts involved that only a few people in the world would understand,yet the author has made them accessible enough. The story was very well planned out and delivered with some mind blowing historical characters.

The narration was also excellent with a wonderful use of accents when quoting mathematicians involved in the story.

Definitely my favourite audio book so far and will be one I come back to again and again.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

Not just the theorem, but history and explanations of the elements and the people involved in a wonderfully interesting and accessible manner. Definitely a favourite of mine

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wow...

Look, I like maths so I was always going to find this book more exciting than your average guy. But there is absolutely no reason that your average guy couldn't find this just as exciting. your classic real life hero story, with a few twists of originality and also some clichés only excusable because they actually did happen.
no knowledge of maths required, in fact given what sort of junk we people get excited about nowadays, a lack if knowledge really shouldn't make the book any less enthralling.

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15 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Not just for maths geeks

This book reads like a historical thriller. It's amazing how Fermat's Last Theorem wove its way through 300 years of mathematical research and discovery, and how the work of many talented mathematicians was brought together to prove the unprovable. There are some complex maths, but you don't need a deep understanding to enjoy this fascinating story.

David Rintoul does a great job of bringing this elaborate tale to life and makes listening a pleasure.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A must listen...

...to anyone who is interested in mathematics. Loved this book. Extremely exciting and fascinating.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Great story; great performance

My enjoyment of this book was not in the least bit diminished by my prior knowledge of the story. My only (very, very minor) complaint is that the narrator continually put Ys into his pronunciation of certain words: solution --> solyution; (r)evolution --> (r)evolyution, etc!

Also, he gave John Conway an American accent!!!!!!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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great puzxle solved

well structured aporoach to explaining what laymen can not posdibly inderstand at the mathmatical level. Still, nice to be along for the ride.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good audiobook, probably better as a book

A good audiobook read very well with a reasonable pace and understandable explanations however you seem to miss out on a lot of figures and equations that are much harder to hear than they are to read.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting

I studied 3rd level maths to a minor degree and still found some of it challenging, but there is more than enough to keep you interested regardless

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Very good

If you have any appreciation of or interest in maths or science then I think you will very likely find this very interesting and enjoyable. I thought getting it would be abit of a gamble, but I am glad I did.

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