How does Simon Singh’s classic popular science book Fermat’s Last Theorem hold up today? Did you know the number 26 is rather special? It is the only number that sits directly between a square number (25 or 5 2 ) and a cube number (27 or 3 3 ). And to be clear, it’s not merely that we’ve never found another case of this square-cube sandwich. We know for certain that there isn’t another one between zero and infinity. Simon Singh’s 1997 book Fermat’s Last Theorem is an exploration of mathematical proof – what it means, how it’s obtained, and what drives those who so passionately seek it. It tells the story of the quest for one particularly beguiling proof, which makes it a compelling read. But given that this proof took 350 years to emerge, it also ends up being a wonderful history of mathematics. For many of us, the meat of mathematics lies in a realm of abstract reasoning far beyond us.…