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Andrew Wiles Quotes

born 1953 England

Sir Andrew John Wiles (born 11 April 1953) is an English mathematician at Oxford University in number theory. He is most famous for finally proving Fermat's Last Theorem.

England
Mathematicians

Also known as: Wiles, Andrew

Random Andrew Wiles quote

14 quotes

However impenetrable it seems, if you don't try it, then you can never do it.

Always try the problem that matters most to you.

Certainly one thing that I've learned is that it is important to pick a problem based on how much you care about it.

But what has made this problem special for amateurs is that there's a tiny possibility that there does exist an elegant 17th-century proof.

I grew up in Cambridge in England, and my love of mathematics dates from those early childhood days.

But perhaps that's always the way with math problems, and we just have to find new ones to capture our attention.

I really believed that I was on the right track, but that did not mean that I would necessarily reach my goal.

I realized that anything to do with Fermat's Last Theorem generates too much interest.

Young children simply aren't interested in Fermat. They just want to hear a story and they're not going to let you do anything else.

Fermat couldn't possibly have had this proof.

I had this rare privilege of being able to pursue in my adult life, what had been my childhood dream.

I don't believe Fermat had a proof. I think he fooled himself into thinking he had a proof.

I loved doing problems in school. I'd take them home and make up new ones of my own.

I know it's a rare privilege, but if one can really tackle something in adult life that means that much to you, then it's more rewarding than anything I can imagine.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Andrew Wiles (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.