Arthur C. Clarke. (2008). The Last Theorem. Unabridged Books on Tape.

Arthur C. Clarke. 2008. The Last Theorem. Books on Tape.

Arthur C. Clarke, The Last Theorem. Books on Tape, 2008.

Arthur C. Clarke. The Last Theorem. Unabridged Books on Tape, 2008.

OverDrive Product Record

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   • fileAs: Clarke, Arthur C.
   • bioText: Arthur C. Clarke has long been considered the greatest science fiction writer of all time. He was an international treasure in many other ways, including the fact that a 1945 article by him led to the invention of satellite technology. Books by Clarke–both fiction and nonfiction–have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. He died in 2008.
     
     Frederik Pohl is the author of many novels, including The Boy Who Would Live Forever; Gateway, part of his acclaimed Heechee saga; and Jem, for which he won the National Book Award. With Isaac Asimov, he was a founding member of the New York-based science fiction group known as the Futurians. In the sixties, Pohl edited Galaxy magazine and its sister magazine, if, which won the Hugo Award three years in a row. In 1993, he became a Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master. He lives in Palatine, Illinois.
     
   • name: Arthur C. Clarke
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2008-08-19T00:00:00-04:00

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title

The Last Theorem

fullDescription

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.

reviews

1. • premium: False
   • source: The New York Times
   • content: "A master at describing the wonders of the material universe in sentences that combine a respect for scientific accuracy with an often startling lyricism."
2. • premium: False
   • source: Los Angeles Times
   • content: "Pohl belongs to a generation of classic science fiction practitioners, an editor and writer who not only witnessed science fiction's maturation but also did his fair share in changing the baby's diapers and teaching it to ride that first bike."
3. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content: Arthur C. Clarke's final book, cowritten with Frederick Pohl, takes place in the nation of Sri Lanka, where the respected science fiction author spent the final years of his life. The love Clarke had for this tiny nation and its people comes through in his work. Mark Bramhall's outstanding performance is the perfect complement for the novel. Bramhall pronounces the tongue-twisting Sri Lankan and Indian names and places with facility, making them sound lyrical and wonderful. Gentle accents here and there bring the characters to life, especially the hero, Ranjit Subranian, a young man who discovers the mathematical proof of Fermat's legendary theorem. Sadly, he does it just as space aliens are about to destroy Earth. C'mon. It's Clarke! You knew aliens were in there somewhere. M.S. Winner of AudioFIle Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
4. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     June 30, 2008
     Grand Masters Pohl (Gateway
     ) and the late Clarke (1917–2008, best known for 2001
     ) collaborated on a can't-put-down adventure that focuses on their mutual strengths: high adventure, fun characters and hard science. Sometime in the near future, teenage Sri Lankan math prodigy Ranjit Subramanian manages to reconstruct and then publish Fermat's claimed proof of his famous last theorem. As Ranjit celebrates fame and fortune, the all-powerful aliens called Grand Galactics see the flash from early nuclear explosions and decide that humanity will have to be wiped out. When Earth's superpowers deploy a new, nonlethal way of handling renegade nations and humanity begins working on global peace and large-scale engineering projects, Ranjit and his family try to broker a truce with the destructive alien force, modeling human optimism through rationality and science. Long passages of math tricks and intrusive narration mar an otherwise enjoyable tale of the struggle between reason and fear.

popularity

273

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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...

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