Andrew Wiles
1953– — England
Era: Modern
Brilliance: 9/10 | Stewardship: 6/10 | Composite Index: 54
Seven years in secret to prove Fermat's Last Theorem.
"Nothing I ever do again will mean as much."
Biography
Andrew Wiles is a British mathematician who achieved one of history's greatest intellectual feats by proving Fermat's Last Theorem in 1995, a problem unsolved for over 350 years. His proof revolutionized number theory and demonstrated the profound interconnectedness of modern mathematics. Wiles' work exemplifies how deep mathematical insight, combined with extraordinary persistence, can solve problems once thought intractable.
Key Facts
- Became obsessed with Fermat's Last Theorem at age 10 after reading about it in a library book
- Spent seven years in almost complete secrecy working on the proof, telling virtually no one of his progress
- His initial 1993 proof contained a subtle error that took another year of intense work to resolve
- Received the Abel Prize in 2016, often considered the Nobel Prize of mathematics
- His proof relies on the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture, connecting elliptic curves to modular forms
Proved a 350-year-old theorem alone in secret. Then cried.
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