Hiding in a men's room, Hanno passes the time by raising the tone with a new graffito. He writes Fermat's Last Theorem and then parodies Fermat's own words:
"'...has no integral solution for all n greater than two. I have found a marvelous proof of this theorem, but there is not room in this stall to write it down.'" (p. 443)
I had not remembered that this was here but it is a strong link to Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. Lizbeth wants to solve the theorem without reading anyone else's solution, succeeds but then loses both her memory of the solution and her mathematical curiosity when she has been shot in the head.
Unlike Poul Anderson's vast output, Larsson wrote only three novels but read and reread them! (More rereadable than Tolkien, in my opinion.)
2 comments:
OTOH
3^3 +4^3 +5^3 = 6^3
A different claim than a counter example to Fermat, but interesting
Kaor, Paul!
Many, many people would disagree with your view of Tolkien. I myself probably read THE LORD OF THE RINGS ten, eleven, or 12 times over the past 55/57 years.
Ad astra! Sean
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