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The Last Theorem | 
 enlarge | Authors: Arthur C. Clarke, Frederik Pohl
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $27.00
Buy New: $11.39
You Save: $15.61 (58%)
New (39) from $11.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 8640
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0345470214
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780345470218
ASIN: 0345470214
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
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Condition: Brand New Hardcover With Dustjacket exactly as pictured; In stock for fast shipping; Satisfaction is Always guaranteed!
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Product Description
Two of science fiction’s most renowned writers join forces for a storytelling sensation. The historic collaboration between Frederik Pohl and his fellow founding father of the genre, Arthur C. Clarke, is both a momentous literary event and a fittingly grand farewell from the late, great visionary author of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The Last Theorem is a story of one man’s mathematical obsession, and a celebration of the human spirit and the scientific method. It is also a gripping intellectual thriller in which humanity, facing extermination from all-but-omnipotent aliens, the Grand Galactics, must overcome differences of politics and religion and come together . . . or perish.
In 1637, the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat scrawled a note in the margin of a book about an enigmatic theorem: “I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.” He also neglected to record his proof elsewhere. Thus began a search for the Holy Grail of mathematics–a search that didn’t end until 1994, when Andrew Wiles published a 150-page proof. But the proof was burdensome, overlong, and utilized mathematical techniques undreamed of in Fermat’s time, and so it left many critics unsatisfied–including young Ranjit Subramanian, a Sri Lankan with a special gift for mathematics and a passion for the famous “Last Theorem.”
When Ranjit writes a three-page proof of the theorem that relies exclusively on knowledge available to Fermat, his achievement is hailed as a work of genius, bringing him fame and fortune. But it also brings him to the attention of the National Security Agency and a shadowy United Nations outfit called Pax per Fidem, or Peace Through Transparency, whose secretive workings belie its name. Suddenly Ranjit–together with his wife, Myra de Soyza, an expert in artificial intelligence, and their burgeoning family–finds himself swept up in world-shaking events, his genius for abstract mathematical thought put to uses that are both concrete and potentially deadly.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone on Earth, an alien fleet is approaching the planet at a significant percentage of the speed of light. Their mission: to exterminate the dangerous species of primates known as homo sapiens.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
 Promises, promises September 24, 2008
I have been reading Clarke for 45 years, and until this book, always enjoyed his work.
It gets off to a promising start, and then just sort of wanders around. Though while wandering, Clarke presents his idea of a Congress composed of individuals randomly selected by computer from the population, and the UN taking a hyper-aggressively proactive approach towards world peace by dropping non-lethal EMP bombs on rogue countries.
All in all, not really recommended as a good sci fi read.
meh September 22, 2008
Seemed like two separate but equally slow stories that never tied together. I think it had a lot of potential, though. Too bad.
Last effort falls short September 21, 2008
Clarke has been a favorite for many years. His passing was a loss to fans around the world. While the concept for his last book held out great promise it failed to deliver the depth of his previous library of work. The story line wandered and lacked the coordination readers had come to expect. While reading it seemed as if sections were missing. I assume that Pohl attempted to stay close to the story line is the few thin notes Clarke left. The infirmities of age show in this not quite finished last effort.
 A Fine Going-Out September 20, 2008
"The Last Theorem" makes a lovely swansong for Arthur C. Clarke, who was one of the greatest masters of science fiction. Much of Clarke's work over the last quarter-century has been in collaboration with others, notably Gentry Lee and Stephen Baxter; this last effort is a collaboration with Frederik Pohl, himself a major science fiction author. I do not know this for sure, but it is my impression that in these collaborations the ideas were essentially Clarke's, while the collaborators did the hard work of writing. Of course, this is understandable, considering Clarke's advancing age and declining health. In any case, the style of "The Last Theorem" recalls Pohl's characteristic detached irony more than Clarke's idealism.
The book's basic premise, the inadvertent sending of significant information into interstellar space, is fascinating. Otherwise the book provides new riffs on typical Clarke themes: the history and culture of Sri Lanka, space elevators, scuba diving, and solar sailing. These are familiar, but I don't mind revisitng them. The characters are interesting and well-rounded, the aliens are well thought out, and I enjoyed the mathematical games. And, as usual with Clarke, it's nice to feel confident that all will come out well, even if not in the way one expects.
Though not on Clarke's (or Pohl's) very highest level, this is an enjoyable and thought-provoking novel.
An inspiring end September 18, 2008
I got this book because it was the last one written by Arthur C. Clarke. It may not have been the most creative work, but it was good to see that Clarke had hope for the human race. There was more fiction than science here, but there were some interesting-if unoriginal-insights.
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