Epstein Secrets

ong multiplication example above. The puzzle was eventually solved in 1995 by Andrew Wiles, a mere 358 years after Fermat claimed to have solved it. Wiles’ proof runs to eighty pages of densely typed mathematical notation — considerably larger than the margin in which Fermat claimed his proof did not qu

head at the same time, and this requires deep concentration. To get some idea of the creative process at work, listen to the excellent TED lecture by John Cleese. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015960 Software 271 A common and costly mistake is to put off thinking about a class of things you are going to need in the next

prohibits a general- purpose machine from solving all mathematical problems, but that seems to be the extent of agreement. The determinists solve the Wiles Paradox by arguing he is a special purpose machine, perfectly able to find answers to non-computable problems. The Turing prohibition only applies to

ively performed by a computer. As you know, I don’t agree with his later viewpoint. Another person who has thought long and hard about creativity is John Cleese, the comedian and actor. He describes the process wonderfully in a number of talks which you can find on YouTube. He finds a lot of his creativity em

” J. of Math 58 (1936): 345-63. ———. “Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals.” Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society 2, no. 1 (1939): 161-228. Wiles, Andrew. “Modular Elliptic Curves and Fermat’s Last Theorem.” Annals of Mathematics-Second Series 141, no. 3 (1995): 443-552. Chapter 12 Burgin, Ma

, 257, 309 convergent thinking 300 design tradeoff 311 divergent thinking 298 Eureka moment 302 incubation 301 innovator’s dilemma 306 intimation 301 John Cleese on 303 knowledge and 141 mathematical creativity 309 mechanical steps 141 non-linearity of 311 preparation 301 process 133, 270, 305 process versus 3