Re: [HM] Hilbert and FLT

Israel Kleiner (kleiner@home.com)
Thu, 05 Aug 1999 09:49:41 -0400

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I don't have an answer to your question, but here is another statement
about FLT attributed to Hilbert by S. Singh and K. Ribet in "Fermat's Last
Stand", Sci. Amer., November 1997, p. 69 (they do not give a source).
Hilbert made it in response to a question (it does not say who asked it)
about why he never attempted a proof of FLT:

Before beginning I should have to put in three years of intensive
study, and I haven't that much time to squander on a probable
failure.

Israel Kleiner
Department of Mathematics & Statistics
York University
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Tel: 416-736-5250
Fax: 416-736-5757
email: kleiner@home.com

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