WEBVTT

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Hi, in 1637, Pierre de Fermat, and I just love

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that name, wrote one of the most famous claims

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in mathematical history. He said that he had

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discovered a proof, but get this, the margin

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of the book was too small to contain it. Yeah,

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he really did. The claim became known as Fermat's

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Last Theorem. The problem itself was easy to

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state, but proving it, well, that was pretty

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difficult. For more than, get this, 350 years,

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some of the world's greatest mathematicians,

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start with Euler, tried and failed to find a

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proof. And then, years later, 1993. a new story

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emerged. Andrew Wiles announced he had solved

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it. Now, Wiles had worked largely in secret for

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seven years on the problem. He had devoted much

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of his life to this problem that had fascinated

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him since he was a child. Then, when he presented

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his work, It was an extraordinary moment in mathematics.

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One of mathematics' oldest unsolved problems

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was solved. But then an error was discovered.

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There was a gap in the proof. Imagine what that

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must have felt like after seven years. Years

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of work. After publicly announcing the results.

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After the mathematical world celebrated. The

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proof did not work. So, Wiles returned to the

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problem. And for months, he tried to repair the

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gap. Again and again, his ideas failed. He later

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described reaching a point where he felt he had

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exhausted every possibility. The proof that had

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seemed complete might not ever work. And then,

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more than a year after the original announcement,

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Wiles returned to an earlier approach that he

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had set aside. And suddenly, He saw how two ideas

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that each had failed on their own could work

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together. And then he got some help from a mathematician,

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Richard Taylor, and between them, they repaired

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the gap. The proof was complete. We remember

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this story as one of mathematics' greatest triumphs.

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But the triumph includes the error. It includes

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the failed repairs, the discouragement, and the

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long period when Wiles did not know whether the

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problem could be solved. The mistake did not

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erase the seven years of work that came before

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it, and it did not make Andrew Wiles a failure.

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Instead, the mistake became part of the discovery.

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And I find something deeply human about this

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story. See, we often imagine accomplishment as

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a smooth path from determination to success.

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And once the finished work is presented, the

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wrong turns disappear from view. But the finished

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proof does not tell the entire story. The complete

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story includes the moment when the proof was

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incomplete. Wouldn't you agree, perseverance

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is not the ability to avoid failure. And if you're

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like me, perseverance is the courage to face

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what does not work, to learn from it, and then

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return to the problem once more. So in whatever

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problem you are stuck in, maybe this story gives

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you hope to persevere to the end.