Simon Singh, author and film-maker: Fermat’s Last Theorem
22 Mar 2024
Friday, 12 April 2024, 4pm-5pm, University Place Lecture Theatre A
Rarely can a scribbled note in a margin have provoked so much mathematical curiosity as Pierre de Fermat's infamous conjecture.
Fermat claimed to have a proof, but left no record of it, stating only that the margin was too small to contain it. This unproven result became known as Fermat's Last Theorem. Generations of mathematicians tried and failed across more than three centuries to prove the general case. Finally in 1994, Andrew (later Sir Andrew) Wiles announced to the world that the problem was solved, though there were some gaps which were filled by Wiles and his former student Richard Taylor.
Simon Singh MBE made an award-winning documentary about this achievement and also wrote a best-selling book. In this lecture, he will talk us through the history of Fermat's Last Theorem and give us an idea of how it was eventually proved using ground-breaking new mathematics.
The event is taking place as part the Manchester Interdisciplinary Mathematics Undergraduate Conference (MIMUC) 2024. Now in its third year, the conference will bring together over 100 students from the Faculty of Science and Engineering and beyond for a vibrant two-day event on Thursday, 11 and Friday, 12 April.
Find out more: