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Quarter 1 Project: Paper

Vincent Pindell

Pre-Calculus/ Trigonometry

Ms. Swick

October 22, 2018


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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

Wiles rediscovers the theorem and proved it in the 20th century.

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

cracked it and solved the “Last Theorem”.

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

topics including what is grit, a fixed mindset, and a growth mindset.

What is Grit? According to Orwin it is “partly matter of personality, of exhibiting the

right characteristics: tenacity, determination, a sort of healthy native stubbornness.” (Orlin, 3)

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

hand.” - Vince Lombardi


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Bibliography:

Numberphile, and Simon Singh. “Fermat's Last Theorem - Numberphile.” YouTube,

YouTube, 24 Sept. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiNcEguuFSA

Weisstein, Eric W. "Fermat's Last Theorem." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web

Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FermatsLastTheorem.html

“Andrew Wiles.” Andrew Wiles Facts & Biography | Famous Mathematicians, famous-

mathematicians.org/andrew-wiles/.

Orlin, Ben. “The State of Being Stuck.”<http://mathwithbaddrawlings.com>.

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