Horizon: Fermat’s Last Theorem

What a marvelous documentary and what a marvelous crowd of brainy mathematicians. They’re generous and funny and seem to take uncomplicated pleasure in the triumphs of their peers. And they’re just utterly… you know… brainy. I thought I was about half way to understanding what Fermat’s last theorem was until one of the brainy blokes introduced the idea of elliptical curves (which aren’t curves and aren’t elliptical). From there on it was down-hill all the way. Modular forms? Shut up.

Thank you Simon Singh for making this excellent programme for Horizon back in 1996 and thank you also to whoever uploaded it to Google Video so we can all watch it.