Rating: 
Summary: So much fun, like a chocolate truffle
Review: This is a bite-sized book that you'll definitely enjoy even if you don't know anything about mathematics. It's a good story told well. Don't expect much beyond that, though. You'll read it in a day and pass it on to a friend. But that's not a bad thing.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating insight
Review: This is a book about Math which is a very difficult subject to write about. It robbed me of sleep for 3 days in a row while it grabbed me by my throat. Need I say more?
You won't regret reading this book. BTW, for the first time in my life I came across the proof for the Pythagoras Theorem in this book.
Don't miss this authors other books. Good writer.
Rating:
Summary: A human drama unfolds ... in a mathematical world!
Review: This is a remarkable and engrossing human story about the search for the proof to the age old Fermat's last theorem. A story which tells the tale of one man's unflinching determination and single minded devotion to the cause of this proof. The events which unfold and the riveting account of Andrew Wiles journey to glory are told in this gripping tale by Simon Singh. Singh's master storytelling abilities are very well exemplified and will be appreciated by one and all. Those not inclined mathematically will also gain insights and concepts of mathematics and also get a peek at the lives of the mathematicians who are featured in this book.Andrew Wiles read about this theorem when he was barely ten year old in a library while flipping through one of E.T. Bell's book. The rest as we know is history because this particular moment became a turning point in young Wiles life. This would force him to take a career in mathematics and lead a rigorous life in mathematics. Later he would be shutting and isolating himself from the outside world so that he could devote his complete attention to the task at hand - to solve this 17th century conjecture devised by the great Pierre Fermat. History saw this theorem remaining unsolved for 350 years, which eluded mathematicians like Euler, Sophie Germain, Lame, Kummer, Cauchy et al. but who nevertheless had their own bit of contribution to the proof in particular and mathematics in general. Andrew Wiles mathematical proof of the century was not without its share of pitfalls. After announcing the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem in June 1993 with much fanfare and publicity, Wiles didn't have the wildest idea about what was in store for him... something which will almost make him accept defeat... Though Prof. Wiles succeeded in his endeavor, his proof was based on post-Fermat mathematical ideas like the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture, Galois group theory, Iwasawa theory and the Kolyvagin-Flach method. Fermat on the other hand had claimed that he possessed the proof for the theorem which obviously was based on mathematics of his time... A great read. Recommended for one and all.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting and Full of Suspense
Review: This required reading for my History of Mathematics class was anything but a chore. Singh keeps the reader wanting more at the end of each chapter. The descriptions and examples of the mathematical concepts were written so that a person without a mathematics education could learn and understand them. The powerful story behind the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem is told along with many sub-stories: the tragic Tanijama-Shimura story, the brilliant youngster Galois, Euler's story, and many others. Without realizing it the reader gains much knowledge of history and mathematics history. It is a true love story of the passion Andrew Wiles possessed in his desire to solve the greatest math problem ever. For 350 years some of the greatest mathematicians had tried to solve the problem and they all failed. This book tells their stories along with the drama that surrounded them.
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