In 1995, my heart tore "asunder" when I learnt that Britain's Professor Andrew Wiles had proved Fermat's last theorem. In number theory, Fermat's Last Theorem (sometimes called Fermat's conjecture, especially in older texts) states that no three positive integers x, y, and z can satisfy the equation x^n + y^n = z^n for any integer value of n greater than two.
This theorem was first conjectured by great French-man - Pierre de Fermat, in 1637, famously in the margin of a copy of Arithmetica where he claimed he had a proof that was too large to fit in the margin. He wrote:
"it is impossible to separate a cube into two cubes, or a fourth power into two fourth powers, or in general, any power higher than the second, into two like powers. I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this, which this margin is too narrow to contain"
No successful proof was published until 1995 despite the efforts of countless mathematicians during the 358 intervening years.
As a growing child, I kept somewhere at a special corner of my heart that one-day I would discover this proof.
So, naturally, I was devastated at Professor Andrew Wiles's success because I felt he had taken something that was given to me by God.
I was delighted to learn that Professor Andrew Wiles's proof required advanced mathematics that was not available during Fermat's time. So, I told my self there must exist a simpler proof and it is this that I must find and it is this God wants me to find, so as to demonstrated that He is subtler than our minds complicate Him.
So, now and again, I have had intellectual convulsions sometimes in my sleep where proofs have come and I would jump out of bed to jot them. I would then revise these proofs only to find it is wrong.
Today just before dawn, the same happened. I had a convulsion and I immediately jumped out of bed and wrote down the proof. I have gone through it and all appears to be rock solid. I went through the proof in my heard while on the bus to work and all appeared well. I come into my office and went through the proof again, and all appears to be OK. So, I thought of sharing this with you.
Give me until Monday 9 Sept. 2013, I will tell you if I have nailed it! If so, it will be an achievement for my country!
No comments:
Post a Comment