Reviews

The Last Problem by Eric Temple Bell

jaredor's review against another edition

5.0

Opinionated math! This was updated before Wiles's proof, but does not detract from the book. If you've ever wondered why the French Revolution had so much social combustibles underneath the initial spark of revolution, read through to the last chapter. The review of primary material and principle actors is excellent and I don't know of another book that does the interplay between math and history so well. You get a feel for why this was cutting edge math in the 17th century and how it came about. I hope that the internet has created similar "math clubs" (my clumsy phrase) such as what Mersenne kept alive, today, but I don't know how accurately that hope is reflected. Underwood Dudley, one of my favorite math expositors, edited the latest edition, and his touch was light, but his notes were excellent. I bought this book years ago, but put it on the shelf because Fermat's Theorem was proven and I thought the historical tension would be gone. I was wrong. Also, keep in mind that I said "opinionated math" at the beginning, and I'll end by pointing this out at the end. I think, in terms of his sensibilities, Bell was ahead of his time. For those who might think some of his comments retrograde, please reread them as ironic and sarcastic: His whole narrative holds together of a piece in that light.