[AccessD] Computer prose

Hi Max,

Sorry, it wasn't Fermi, it was Fermat. Here it is:


  Fermat's last theorem

Statement that there are no natural numbers /x/, /y/, and /z/ such that 
/x/^/n/ + /y/^/n/ = /z/^/n/ , in which /n/ is a natural number greater 
than 2. About this, Pierre de Fermat 
<http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Fermat%2c+Pierre+de> wrote 
in 1637 in his copy of Diophantus's Arithmetica, “I have discovered a 
truly remarkable proof but this margin is too small to contain it.” 
Although the theorem was subsequently shown to be true for many specific 
values of /n/, leading to important mathematical advances in the 
process, the difficulty of the problem soon convinced mathematicians 
that Fermat never had a valid proof. In 1995 the British mathematician 
Andrew Wiles (b. 1953) and his former student Richard Taylor (b. 1962) 
published a complete proof, finally solving one of the most famous of 
all mathematical problems.

For more information on Fermat's last theorem 
<http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/_/gr.aspx?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.britannica.com%2Feb%2Farticle-9034050%2FFermats-last-theorem&source=Britannica>, 
visit Britannica.com. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Copyright © 
1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

I was unaware that the complete proof had been published. I don't think 
my Dad knows that either, so I'm going to send this one off to him, too.

T


Max Wanadoo wrote:
> Have  you got a URL for it Tina?
>
> Tried google but too  much fluff.
>
> Max
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Tina Norris
> Fields
> Sent: 24 September 2009 15:08
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Computer prose
>
> Arthur, if you get Fermi's Last Theorem resolved, please let me know.  
> My Dad's been working on that one, off and on, for about 40 years, now, 
> I think.
> T
>
> Arthur Fuller wrote:
>   
>> Shamil, Russian novelists have nothing to apologize for. IMO they rank
>>     
> among
>   
>> the greatest ever born.
>> The only real issue in Russian lit (I didn't actually take a course from
>> Nabokov when he taught at Cornell, but my then-girlfriend did, and she
>>     
> gave
>   
>> me all her notes to read. Nabokov and I see Russian novels from completely
>> opposite perspectives. That's cool. I like opposing views, they stimulate
>> discussion! Nabokov preferred Tolstoy, I preferred Dostoevsky. We both
>>     
> loved
>   
>> Gogol, a commonality among major other differences. Nabokov believed that
>> every single detail within a scene was crucial. My GF once faced an exam
>> from him, containing a single question, which I cannot quote, but it went
>> approximately like this: when Count Vronski said xxx, what colour were the
>> walls in the room? Whereas my exam question might have been, was
>>     
> Raskalnikov
>   
>> crazy, and if so why, and if not why not? Or going further back to Gogol,
>> was it crazy or mere opportunism to sell dead souls? A strange
>>     
> perspective:
>   
>> Russia as the birth of capitalist oppression. LOL.
>>
>> Anyway, Shamil, I would be most interested in your take on "A Martian
>>     
> Sends
>   
>> a Postcard Home." I deem it a truly great work, and I made it through
>> without reference to the notes, although I admit that it took me a couple
>>     
> of
>   
>> days to work it out.
>>
>> Meanwhile, I'm back to trying to resolve Fermi's Last Theorem. It's tough!
>>
>> A.
>>
>> On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 6:51 PM, Shamil Salakhetdinov <
>> shamil at smsconsulting.spb.ru> wrote:
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> 2B || !2B ?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Shamil
>>>
>>> P.S. FYI: In Russia eternal questions are: "Who is guilty?" and "What to
>>> do?" with "Who is guilty?" one taking 99% of the time to "chat about" for
>>> ages now...
>>>
>>>
>>>     
>>>