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Showing posts from October, 2010

Fermat's Last Theorem Revisited

Looking again at the Horizon TV programme on Fermat’s Last Theorem proved a very rewarding experience. Unlike the first time I was able to appreciate much more of the fine detail (e.g. with respect to elliptical curves and modular functions). Also it got me thinking again on a number of levels regarding my own mathematical journey. Like Wiles as a child of about 10, I too had heard of Fermat’s Last Theorem. The problem seemed so beguilingly simple that in my naïveté I thought I would be able to solve it. However after many hours of futile endeavour I abandoned this quest in failure. Nevertheless as Mathematics remained my favourite pursuit I hoped to major in the subject at College. However after a troublesome first year when I became greatly disillusioned with the mathematical treatment of the infinite, I dropped out of the class. Many years later I became interested again in Fermat’s Last Theorem from a very different context. I had been paying a great deal of attention to my ne

The Big Bang

It is indeed a pleasure to watch so many beautifully produced programmes highlighting the wonders of the universe. Recently I was viewing "Stephen Hawking's Universe" on Channel 4 and found it fascinating (especially the last episode on the origins of creation). The Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago has now become so commonly accepted as if it is an established scientific reality not to be questioned. However I always like to take a wider perspective than mere conventional acceptance of present views. Just look at how our worldview has changed so much from even 100 years ago! Is it not reasonable to assume that perhaps even greater changes will take place in the next 100 years making much of what is presently gospel truth seem naive and even foolish! So even if the Big Bang remains the accepted orthodoxy, I am sure that the manner in which it is understood will have changed considerably. Indeed it seems to me somewhat ridiculous to attempt to describe in detail what h