Fermat's Last Theorem/Historical Note

Historical Note on Fermat's Last Theorem
Fermat's Last Theorem was first stated by in the margin of his copy of 's translation of 's. In 1670, his son published an edition of this, complete with 's marginal notes, of which this was one such.

As himself put it:


 * Cubum autem in duos cubos, aut quadratoquadratum in duos quadratoquadratos et generaliter nullam in infinitum ultra quadratum potestatem in duos ejusdem nominis fas est dividere: cujus rei demonstrationem mirabilem sane detexi. Hanc marginis exiguitas non caperet.

Loosely translated from the Latin, that means:


 * The equation $x^n + y^n = z^n$ has no integral solutions when $n > 2$. I have discovered a perfectly marvellous proof, but this margin is not big enough to hold it.

Nobody managed to find such a proof, until it was finally proved by in 1994. It is seriously doubted that actually had found a general proof of it, and it is almost impossible that he found Wiles' proof since it uses areas of mathematics that were not yet invented in Fermat's time.