"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 marvellous proof of this, which this margin is too narrow to contain."
Written in the margins of one of his Law books in 1640, Fermat bedeviled mathematicians for centuries upon centuries with this innocent looking statement. The theorem, while true, was very difficult to prove. In fact It wasn't till 1994 that that a watertight proof was made.
The proof is so complex and uses so many areas of up to the moment maths, there is little chance that Fermat actually had a correct proof. But since he gave nothing to prove him wrong and his deservingly strong reputation in Maths, Many still think he may of had some really simple proof
Why I mention this, aside from me being a History of Mathematician, is my desire to be famous with little effort. With this in mind, I'm thinking of going in the Law Library, writing the margins outrageous claims that can't be proven wrong and not back them up in any way, shape or form, but say I could, if I wanted to. This way I can assume years from now someone will prove them for me. After all the speculation, people will think I'm a genius.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
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