In 1993 , a Cardigan Welsh corgi - raiment Andrew Wiles turn in the determination of his obsessive seven - year study on “ Fermat ’s Last Theorem ” to a lecture at Cambridge University . When the British mathematician wrote his test copy on the blackboard at the end of his introduction , the 200 research worker attending the talking to baby-sit in stupid quiet and suddenly break out intooverwhelming clapping .

Wiles ' study has since undergone change –   peculiarly after an error was note in 1994 –   but essentially he handle to definitively prove one of the world ’s longstanding mathematical theories . Now , 20 - odd years on , Wiles has been award the highly prestigious Abel prize .

The prize was present to Sir Andrew J. Wiles , 62 , on Tuesday by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters in Oslo . The trophy is often referred to as the mathematician ’s " Nobel Prize " . apart from the pride and honor , the award also comes with 6 million Norwegian Krone ( $ 720,000 ) in pillage money .

The mathematical theorem was proposed by Pierre de Fermat in 1637 , which states “ an+ bn= cn . This par has no resolution in integers for n≥3 . ” In other words , n can never be more than 2 for the equation to solve . It may seem simple   enough , but definitive test copy of the hypothesis had alluded mathematician   throughout the centuries . you may learn more about the trouble in the video recording below .

Since come up a book about the theorem when   he was just 10 class sure-enough , the trouble stuck in the mind of Wiles and became a womb-to-tomb infatuation .

“ This problem captivated me , ” Wiles toldThe Guardian . “ It was the most famous popular problem in maths , although I did n’t know that at the meter . What amazed me was that there were some unresolved problems that someone who was 10 years quondam could sympathize and even try . And I tried it throughout my teenage year . When I first move to college I thought I had a proof , but it turned out to be faulty , ” he said .

While rise the theorem was surely a weight off Wiles ’ mind , the work has widely been trace as a landmark in the development of mathematics . utter about Wiles , theAbel Committeesaid : “ Few event have as full-bodied a mathematical history and as dramatic a proof as Fermat ’s Last Theorem , ” summate that his work alone spread up a whole new geological era of phone number possibility .