The Last Theorem, Arthur C. Clarke
The Last Theorem, Arthur C. Clarke
2 Rating(s)
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The Last Theorem

Author: Arthur C. Clarke, Frederik Pohl

Narrator: Mark Bramhall

Unabridged: 12 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/05/2008


Synopsis

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.

About The Author

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Megan on October 07, 2016

I like Frederik Pohl, or, at least, I like Gateway, the one book of his I've read, a whole lot. I have enjoyed most Arthur C. Clarke I have read. Reading a book by the two of them together sounded intriguing, at the very least. Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly gripping, and frankly, is a bit of......more

Goodreads review by Tatjana on August 16, 2015

Zapanjujuća knjiga! Fascinirala me je količina ideja fino utkanih u radnju romana, lepo doziranih i uklopljenih, tako da imate celovitu viziju, a ne nabacane koncepte. Doduše, ima problema u tempu romana, pretpostavljam da je zbog toga došlo do velikog broja nezadovoljnih čitalaca. Takođe, lično, pr......more

Goodreads review by Dan on March 16, 2015

In many ways, it's appropriate that this was Arthur C. Clarke's final work. It's sort of a love letter to him and his career, magpieing ideas from his best works, from the all-seeing alien beings to his love of Sri Lanka. There's countless little nods to Clarke's work and its great fun to spot. The......more

Goodreads review by Wayne on March 19, 2009

I thought this was a good book. It was Clarke's last book (mainly authored by another sci-fi great, Fred Pohl, from 50 pages of Clarke's notes) and kind of stands as an homage to his work and ideas - it has a "skyhook" space elevator based on Sri Lanka (Fountains of Paradise), the Grand Galactics (......more

Goodreads review by Jon on December 20, 2018

The Last Theorem is a bit of everything. It's a story about Sri Lanka, about life as a young student, about the world political order, about aliens, about space colonization, about mathematics and then some. As it's so broad and just a few hundred pages long it lacks a bit in depth here and there bu......more


Quotes

Praise for Arthur C. Clarke

“A master at describing the wonders of the material universe in sentences that combine a respect for scientific accuracy with an often startling lyricism.”
–The New York Times

Praise for Frederik Pohl

“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.”
–Los Angeles Times