> Also there are simply so
> many more mathematicians in the 20th century that any proof gets
> looked at by so many more people!
Certainly not any proof; there are too many articles that
won't be read by more than two people. You are right for
proofs of theorems of central interest that are discussed
in seminars around the world.
> P.S. I predict that the question of whether Wiles's proof is
> correct will eventually become academic.
BTW, the full Taniyama-Shimura conjecture (which was known
up to now only for curves whose conductor is not divisible
by 27) was proved a week or so ago, apparently by
Wiles/Taylor/Conrad/N.N.
franz