MA 240     Instructor:  Jeffrey Horn

The Proof                                                                      NAME:  ____________________

Goals

This movie is a peek into another world, that of the mathematician.  I don't expect ANYONE I know to understand the proof of Fermat's conjecture.  But I do expect you all to understand the conjecture itself, and to ask yourselves why is this a discrete math problem, as opposed to continuous.  Also, it is a human story.  Concentrate on the human emotions involved, the egos, the relationships. 

Answer these questions.  Keep each answer to one or two sentences (well, no more than a paragraph).  Write me your answers in emails to jhorn@nmu.edu or hardcopy to my mailbox in NSF 1001):

1. In the end, did Andrew Wiles really prove the theorem/conjecture or not?  How would you KNOW it is proven?

    

2. What do you think is the difference between a theorem and a conjecture?  Which is, or was, Fermat's statement?

    

3. Do you think Fermat really did have a proof?

    

4. Why did Andrew Wiles try to do this alone? 

    

5. In the end, was he able to do it alone?

    

6. If he had started out working on this publicly, do you think he would have (a) succeeded much faster, (b) taken even longer than he did, (c) been beaten to it by some colleague, or (d) failed to ever prove it or to have anyone else prove it?  Why do you think that?