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Frenchman '''Pierre de Fermat''' (1601–1665) was one of the two leading mathematicians of the early 1600s, the other being Rene Descartes.  Fermat was a founder of the modern theory of numbers, discovered the fundamental principle of analytic geometry (independent of Descartes' work) and helped found the theory of probability (with [[Blaise Pascal]]).  By trade Fermat was a lawyer.  
 
Frenchman '''Pierre de Fermat''' (1601–1665) was one of the two leading mathematicians of the early 1600s, the other being Rene Descartes.  Fermat was a founder of the modern theory of numbers, discovered the fundamental principle of analytic geometry (independent of Descartes' work) and helped found the theory of probability (with [[Blaise Pascal]]).  By trade Fermat was a lawyer.  
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Fermat's most famous equation is [[Fermat's Last Theorem]], which was not proven until American mathematician Andrew Wiles published his proof in 1993.
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Fermat's most famous equation is [[Fermat's Last Theorem]], which was not proven until American mathematician Andrew Wiles published his proof in 1993. Wiles was born an Englishman, but was awarded US citzenship for solving Fermat's equation.

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