[HM] Hilbert and FLT

Alfred Ross (Alfred.Ross@eudoramail.com)
Wed, 04 Aug 1999 10:47:39 -0700

Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]
Next message: David Fowler: "Re: [HM] History in Mathematics"
Previous message: Thomas L. Drucker: "[HM] Myth-Transmission in the History of Mathematics"
Next in thread: Avinoam Mann: "Re: [HM] FWD: Announcing the largest known composite Fermat number"

Apparently, when someone asked David Hilbert why he didn't prove Fermat's
Last Theorem and win the Wolfskehl Prize, he remarked: "Why should I kill
the goose that lays the golden egg?" Is this another instance of the myth
transmission in the History of Mathematics? If not, I'd appreciate very
much a primary reference to the source (and context) of this statement.

Alfred Ross

Next message: David Fowler: "Re: [HM] History in Mathematics"
Previous message: Thomas L. Drucker: "[HM] Myth-Transmission in the History of Mathematics"
Next in thread: Avinoam Mann: "Re: [HM] FWD: Announcing the largest known composite Fermat number"