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Vincent Pindell
Pre-Calculus/ Trigonometry
Ms. Swick
Vincent Pindell
Pre-Calculus/ Trigonometry
Ms. Swick
October 22, 2018
Who was Fermat? His full name is Pierre De Fermat and was born on August 17, 1601
and died on January 12, 1665. Fermat was a lawyer/judge, but his hobby was mathematics in his
free time. Pierre De Fermat is known as an inventor of calculus due to contributions to math and
is most famous for his “Last Theorem” x^n + y^n = z^n if x > 2. This theorem has no whole
number solutions, and x, y, and z ≠ 0. It is well known as his final theorem due to it being the last
theorem, he wrote down but did not prove it. The way that Fermat discovered this theorem was
through reading Arithmetica by Diophrantus. While he was reading this book he would create
annotations, and write in the book explaining that he had a proof, but he did not write the proof
down into the book including writing down “Hanc marginis exituartis non carepet” (Nagell
1951, p. 252) (also found on maththoworl.wolfram.com) which translates from Latin to be, “I
have a truly marvelous proof which this margin is too narrow to contain”. After he passed away,
his son published the same book with Fermat’s annotations still in the book which allowed the
public to see the work of Fermat and allowed them to try to prove Fermat’s proofs. Eventually all
his theorems were solved by mathematicians except for one proof which is known as the “Last
Theorem” because no one could solve it. It was the last theorem to be unproven until Andrew
Andrew Wiles (Born: April 11, 1953) is the man who rediscovered and proved Pierre de
Fermat’s theorem. Born in Cambridge, England, he decided when he was ten years old to go to
the library and read The Last Problem by E.T Bell, which discusses Fermat's final theorem. After
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that, he decided the he was going to be the one to solve the equation. He attended Kings College,
and Lee’s School, both in Cambridge, while he sought the solution. While teaching as a
professor at Princeton University he also devoted 7 years to working on proving Fermat’s “Last
Theorem”. In early l993, he finally discovered the solution. Once he proved the theorem, he
provided presentations, and explained his thoughts until months later, when he found a flaw in
his work. Wiles worked desperately to find the correct solution and in early September 1994 he
Throughout the article The State of Being Stuck, the author, Ben Orlin interviews one of
the greatest mathematicians in history, Andrew Wiles. During the interview Orlin covers many
For Wiles, he explains “Perseverance is neither about personality (as with grit) nor belief (as a
mindset) Rather, it’s about emotion” (Orlin, 3) These quotes explain that grit is a part of one’s
character together with discipline, that makes one determined, and hardworking. In addition to
grit, there are two further characteristics Wiles explored. These include, a fixed mindset and a
growth mindset. A fixed mindset is “one's intelligence, and abilities are unchanging, stable traits.
Success, to them is not about effort: it’s about raw ability.” (Orlin, 5) A fixed mindset has
nothing to do with grit, it is just the persons knowledge of the material and comprehension
naturally. On the other hand, a growth mindset is the idea that the understanding of difficult
material can be developed through dedication, time, and effort. All three of these topics are also
related to mathematics. Through grit, and a growth mindset, you can achieve the problems of
math through hard work, perseverance, and time, rather than a fixed mindset, which is just a
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natural understating of the material being discussed and comprehending it instantly. Imagine if a
person has grit, high intelligence, and a growth mindset, the possibilities are endless.
I believe that “Accepting the State of Being Stuck” is not a part of my vocabulary. If I
have problems comprehending the material not just in mathematics, but in all my classes I either
talk to the teacher or watch YouTube educational videos about the topic to understand the
material. In mathematics if I do not understand the material I either look in the notes to a
problem that is similar to that equation, find the answer to the equation and figure out what I
need to achieve the work, or I talk to my math teacher in the mornings before school, or text on
my phone through remind app. I believe it is key to have a growth mindset today because if you
do not, then someone else passes you up and you’re left behind. This philosophy relates to
almost everything you do in life due to the numerous of choices that we make each day. As an
athlete, I utilize this mindset daily. When life gives me lemons, I try my best to make lemonade,
or as a great coach once said, “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand,
and the determination weather we win or lose, we have applied the best to ourselves to the task at
Bibliography:
Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FermatsLastTheorem.html
“Andrew Wiles.” Andrew Wiles Facts & Biography | Famous Mathematicians, famous-
mathematicians.org/andrew-wiles/.