Mathematics gives some of the most dramatic examples of the glacial but inexorable advance of the human intellect. For example, in 1994 British mathematician Andrew Wiles revealed his proof of Fermat's last theorem. Wiles used esoteric mathematical tools like elliptical equations, unheard of when Pierre de Fermat first scribbled the problem in the margin of a book 350 years earlier. "I have a truly marvelous proof of this proposition, which this margin is too narrow to contain," Fermat had claimed. He died before his note was discovered, his proof apparently unwritten. For seven years, Wiles toiled secretly in his attic; only his wife knew that he was unraveling one of math's most enduring mysteries.
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机译：数学给出了人类智力的冰河无情进步的一些最引人注目的例子。例如，1994年，英国数学家安德鲁·威尔斯（Andrew Wiles）揭示了他对费马最后定理的证明。威尔斯使用了诸如椭圆方程之类的深奥数学工具，这是皮埃尔·德·费马特（Pierre de Fermat）何时以350年前的一本书的边缘首次the刻该问题的闻所未闻。费马特声称：“我对这一主张确实有奇妙的证明，这一界限太窄而难以控制。”他在笔记被发现之前就去世了，他的证明显然是没有文字的。七年来，威尔斯在阁楼上暗地劳作；只有他的妻子知道他正在解开数学上最持久的谜团之一。
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