Fermat's Last Theorem/Historical Note/Fermat's Note

Historical Note on Fermat's Last Theorem: Fermat's Note in Diophantus's Arithmetica

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.

This was written against problem $8$ of Book $\text {II}$ of Claude Bachet's Diophanti Alexandrini Arithmeticorum.

Sources

• 1937: Eric Temple Bell: Men of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text{IV}$: The Prince of Amateurs
• 1972: George F. Simmons: Differential Equations ... (previous) ... (next): $1$: The Nature of Differential Equations: $\S 6$: The Brachistochrone. Fermat and the Bernoullis
• 1989: Ephraim J. Borowski and Jonathan M. Borwein: Dictionary of Mathematics ... (previous) ... (next): Fermat's last theorem
• 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {A}.13$: Fermat ($\text {1601}$ – $\text {1665}$)
• 1992: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Bachet
• 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $7$: Patterns in Numbers: Fermat