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Fermat's Last Theorum

August 29, 2010, 10:09 am

I second Alex's nomination - this is one of my favorite documentaries as well.  The book by the same name is very good as well and covers more of the math history.  I actually watched it just the other day in a home double feature with a A Beautiful Mind, mainly showing my kids the scenes shot at Princeton**  but it turned out to be a great essay on math and the human mind.

** I suppose I could have thrown in Transformers 2 as a Princeton triple feature but it seemed somehow out of place in terms of tone.  Also, seeing all the ASU girls walking around the Princeton campus was almost weirder than the hallucinations in A Beautiful Mind.

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Category: Science
  • John David Galt

    "Theorum"?

  • Rodrigo

    That's a killer documentary. That sad part is that a thought I was goos at math before watching it.....afterwards I felt I was still counting with my fingers.
    Three Algebra and three Calculus courses on college were not enough.

  • IgotBupkis

    I think one of my favorite ST:NG moments is the episode opening where Picard is talking about Fermat's Last Theorem... still unproven in 2366.

    :o D

    One of the greatest mistakes in writing SF is to make highly specific predictions.

    This one was in the process of being broken even as the ep was filmed -- Wiles' effort was already underway for the lifespan of ST:NG.

  • http://duffandnonsense.typepad.com/ David Duff

    On the subject of less than forthcoming Fermat I would urge you to see Stoppard's masterpiece "Arcadia", or just as good, read the script.

  • http://quotationsample.com quotation sample

    I have seen the documentary and found it really fruitful. But I did not know that there is some book on the subject. Its a news for me. I will try to find it out and I am sure that the book will be as interesting as the documentary???