Xn + yn = zn, where n represents 3, 4, 5 ... no solution "I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain." With these words, the seventeenth-century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat threw down the gauntlet to future generations. What came to be known as Fermat's Last Theorem looked simple; proving it, however, became the Holy Grail of mathematics, baffling its finest minds for more than 350 years. In Fermat's Enigma--based on the author's award-winning documentary film, which aired on PBS's "Nova"--Simon Singh tells the astonishingly entertaining story of the pursuit of that grail, and the lives that were devoted to, sacrificed for, and saved by it. Here is a mesmerizing tale of heartbreak and mastery that will forever change your feelings about mathematics.

Originally published: New York : Walker, 1997.

1."I Think I'll Stop Here" 1 -- 2. The Riddler 35 -- 3. A Mathematical Disgrace 71 -- 4. Into Abstraction 121 -- 5. Proof by Contradiction 171 -- 6. The Secret Calculation 205 -- 7. A Slight Problem 255 -- Epilogue Grand Unified Mathematics 279 -- Suggestions for Further Reading 301 -- Picture Credits 306.