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Fermat's Last Theorem
- The Story of a Riddle That Confounded the World's Greatest Minds for 358 Years
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
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Fermat's Last Theorem
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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.
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What listeners say about Fermat's Last Theorem
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Miakatt
- 25-07-23
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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ida Fischer
- 17-08-20
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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. J. P. Owens
- 17-06-22
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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nathan
- 17-08-17
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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Scott
- 05-04-21
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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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ink needed
- 04-05-20
A wonderful achievement
An amazing achievement both by Andrew Wiles in solving Fermat's but also by Simon Singh in writing an account that covered some much of the history so accessibly. I strongly recommend this to anyone and have bored friends with it already. Inspirational.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MC
- 08-01-21
Best Maths story I've heard.
I'd already seen the BBC program about Andrew Wiles so I already knew the story, if anything it encouraged me to buy this audiobook.
This isn't a maths book though, it's a story about a maths conundrum that even a primary school child could understand.
Simon Singh tells the story from it's early conception, through the centuries and onto today with the listener needing to know anything but simple maths. He not only tells the story about the maths but about the people who created them.
David Rintoul the narrator is clear to understand and reads it very well.
I've listened to a few maths books and this is by far the best.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. A. J. Mcleod
- 14-07-23
A brilliant account
This is a vibrant and brilliant account of the 2000 or so years of mathematical history that led to Fermat’s pronouncement that he had a theorem, and the mathematics that led to solving this. The maths is well explained and very well presented by the narrator who is clear and speaks at the perfect pace.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nic
- 06-04-24
Way above my head
It’s kind of a technical romp through the history of mathematics. You have to let a lot of the maths slide off your back, and simply enjoy the ride. Truly mathematicians through the ages standing on the shoulders of their predecessors. You’ll love the book if you love stories of superhuman effort. Just sit back, listen and admire.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rebecca
- 22-09-22
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