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Andrew Wiles Biography

Sir Andrew John Wiles KBE FRS (born 11 April 1953) is a British mathematician and a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford, specialising in number theory. He is best known for proving Fermat's Last Theorem, for which he received the 2016 Abel Prize. Wiles has received numerous other honours, including the Copley Medal, the Royal Society's highest honour, in 2017.

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Andrew Wiles Quotes

Some mathematics problems look simple, and you try them for a year or so, and then you try them for a hundred years, and it turns out that they're extremely hard to solve. There's no reason why these problems shouldn't be easy, and yet they turn out to be extremely intricate. [Fermat's] Last Theorem is the most beautiful example of this.

Beautiful, Simple, Years, Look, Theorem

Just because we can't find a solution it doesn't mean that there isn't one.

Idaho, Mean, Solution, Solutions

However impenetrable it seems, if you don't try it, then you can never do it.

Ifs, Impenetrable, Seems, Trying

It's fine to work on any problem, so long as it generates interesting mathematics along the way - even if you don't solve it at the end of the day.

Day, Interesting, Long, Mathematics, Solve, Work

I know it's a rare privilege, but if one can really tackle something in adult life that means that much to you, then it's more rewarding than anything I can imagine.

Adults, Life, Mean, Privilege, Rare, Tackle

I really believed that I was on the right track, but that did not mean that I would necessarily reach my goal

Believed, Goal, Mean, Right, Track

I carried this problem around in my head basically the whole time. I would wake up with it first thing in the morning, I would be thinking about it all day, and I would be thinking about it when I went to sleep. Without distraction I would have the same thing going round and round in my mind.

Carried, Morning, Problem, Science, Sleep, Time

Always try the problem that matters most to you.

Important, Issues, Matters, Motivational, Problem

The definition of a good mathematical problem is the mathematics it generates rather than the problem itself.

Definitions, Generates, Good, Mathematics, Science, Sensual

I never use a computer.

Computer, Mathematics, Use

I grew up in Cambridge in England, and my love of mathematics dates from those early childhood days.

Love, Childhood, England, Grew, Cambridge

I had this rare privilege of being able to pursue in my adult life, what had been my childhood dream.

Adult, Adults, Childhood, Dream, Privilege

Mathematicians aren't satisfied because they know there are no solutions up to four million or four billion, they really want to know that there are no solutions up to infinity.

Four, Infinity, Mathematicians, Satisfied, Want

There are proofs that date back to the Greeks that are still valid today.

Greek, Today, Proof, Back, Date

Pure mathematicians just love to try unsolved problems - they love a challenge.

Challenge, Challenges, Love, Problems, Trying

Perhaps I could best describe my experience of doing mathematics in terms of entering a dark mansion. You go into the first room and it's dark, completely dark. You stumble around, bumping into the furniture. Gradually, you learn where each piece of furniture is. And finally, after six months or so, you find the light switch and turn it on. Suddenly, it's all illuminated and you can see exactly where you were. Then you enter the next dark room.

Dark, Illuminated, Light, See, Six, Stumble

I tried to fit it in with some previous broad conceptual understanding of some part of mathematics that would clarify the particular problem I was thinking about.

Conceptual, Mathematics, Part, Problem, Thinking, Understanding

That particular odyssey is now over. My mind is now at rest.

Mind, Odyssey, Particular, Rest

But the best problem I ever found, I found in my local public library.

Found, Library, Problem