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Article: Famed Math Puzzle May Have Been Solved; Fermat's Last Theorem Has Humbled Specialists for 350 Years
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- March 9, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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The most famous of all unsolved mathematical problems, one that
has entertained and infuriated the greatest minds in mathematics for
350 years, finally may have been solved.
The problem, called Fermat's Last Theorem, is celebrated for its
romantic history and irresistible simplicity. The challenge has been
to prove it, and over the centuries thousands of mathematicians have
tried-and failed.
Several cash prizes have been offered for a successful proof, to
no avail, and in one 1954 short story the Devil himself couldn't
produce it. Then two weeks ago, Yoichi Miyaoka, a 38-year-old
Japanese mathematician, went to the blackboard before three dozen
mathematicians at the Max Planck Institute ...