When reviewing his copy of Diophantus in 1637, Pierre de Fermat wrote his famous 'Last Theorem' in the margin, together with a note to the effect that he had discovered a proof that was too lengthy to fit in the margin. When his son Samuel published this edition of Diophantus he incorporated all of his father’s marginal notes in the text. This was just as well as the original was eventually lost, so the statement reproduced here is the earliest extant expression of the theorem. The theorem remained unproven until 1994, when Andrew Wiles published his proof.

Given by John Newcome.