| In
1996, working with John Lynch, I made a documentary
about Fermat's Last Theorem for the BBC series Horizon.
It was 50 minutes of mathematicians talking about mathematics,
which is not the obvious recipe for a TV blockbuster,
but the result was a programme that captured the public
imagination and which received critical acclaim.
The programme won the BAFTA
for best documentary, a Priz Italia, other international
prizes and an Emmy nomination - this proves that mathematics
can be as emotional and as gripping as any other subject
on the planet.
Other pages on this site tell
you the tale of Andrew Wiles and Fermat's Last Theorem,
so I won't rehash the whole story again. However, it
is worth pointing out that the story has all the elements
of a great Hollywood movie.
There is a brilliant
genius from the past who solves an apparently impossible
problem. He dies without revealing the solution. This
becomes buried treasure, and every subsequent mathematician
goes in search of it. There are heroes, villains, rivals,
rich prizes, a duel at dawn, a suicide and an attempted
suicide, but after 300 years the problem remains intact.
The greatest minds on the planet failed to solve it.
Undaunted, however, a young boy promises to devote the
rest of his life to solving this notorious problem.
After thirty years he suddenly identifies a strategy
that might work. For seven years he works in secret.
He reveals his proof, only to learn that he has made
a mistake. He hides away again, humiliated and ashamed,
but he returns a year later, this time triumphant. The
problem has been solved. His journey is over.
The documentary was about mathematics
and mathematicians, but it was also about childhood
dreams, ambition, obsession, passion, failure and triumph.
Not surprisingly, there was a time when one of the Hollywood
studios put in a serious bid to make a feature film,
but somewhere along the line the project faded away.
The emotion of the documentary
is clear from the first minute. The opening sequence
shows Professor Andrew Wiles recalling the moment when
he realised that he had solved Fermat's Last Theorem
and achieved his childhood dream. The memory is so moving
that he begins to stumble over his words. He then pauses,
takes a breath, tries to continue, but eventually he
is overcome with emotion and turns away from the camera.
There are other moments in the programme that are equally
emotional.
The programme gets repeated
from time to time, but I have no idea how you would
find out if and when it is being broadcast. In the meantime,
you can read a transcript.
The documentary was also broadcast and supported by
Nova in
America, and they have an excellent website based around
the programme.
In this section of the site,
you can find how to buy a video, what
went on behind the scenes when the programme was made and five weird things
that you probably did not know about the programme.
After making the documentary,
I began working on my book on the same
subject. The documentary was great because it allowed
mathematicians to speak for themselves, it conveyed
why they spend their lives on problems that seem to
have no practical use, and it revealed the beauty and
passion of mathematics. The aim of the book was to build
on this, but also to explain more of the mathematical
concepts. Television is not a great medium for explanation,
but the written word is. Also, the mathematicians who
appeared in the documentary were so compelling
that they dominated the programme, and as a result there
was no time left to cover the history of Fermat's Last
Theorem. So another objective of the book was to explore
the rich history of this infamous problem.
Anyway ... if you have seen
the documentary, I hope you enjoyed it. From my point
of view, it was a great privilege to work with all the
mathematicians involved and to have a chance to tell
this extraordinary story. And if you haven't seen the
programme, then keep an eye out for it whenever you
are channel hopping. Just look out for close-up shots
of blackboards and listen out for people mentioning
phrases like "x squared" and "Iwasawa theory". |
Andrew Wiles at the age when he first encountered
Fermat's Last Theorem and had the audacity to believe
that he could prove it. |
