Abstract
Early in 1983, the mathematical world was stunned by the news that a 29 year old German mathematician had obtained a partial solution to the famous problem of Fermat's Last Theorem. Exactly what Gerd Faltings of Wuppertal University did was to prove correct the Mordell Conjecture, a problem which had resisted all attempts at solution since its formulation in 1922. A precise statement of the Mordell Conjecture is not possible here, since it involves mathematical concepts not familiar to most people. What can be explained is how Faltings’ result provides a partial solution to the Fermat Problem (as ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem' is known as to present day mathematicians).
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© 1984 Keith Devlin
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Devlin, K. (1984). Fermat’s Last Theorem. In: Micro-Maths. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-07936-0_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-07936-0_11
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-07938-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-07936-0
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