Fermat’s Enigma By: Simon Singh
Publication Date: September 8th 1998 Date Finished: March 4, 2022
Rating: 9/10
Editor’s Note: This section was intended to be a review of Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasy The Way of Kings, the first book in his Stormlight Archive series. The task of writing a concise review of such a massive world building project proved too great for Tim. However, he rated it 9/10 and recommends it for even nonfans of the genre.
x^n+ y^n= z^n has no integer solutions for n>2 and x,y,z not being 0.
The above statement was made by 17th century French public servant and amateur mathematician Pierre de Fermat. Fermat wrote this theorem in the margin of the great mathematical work Arithmetica by the ancient Greek Diophantus. Fermat claimed to have written a brilliant mathematical proof that shows the above statement is true but said the margin was not big enough for him to include it.
Fermat seems to have been a prickly character with few interests outside of his career and maths. Fermat did not publish much mathematical work and was only rarely in contact with the leading mathematicians of the era. As a result, his famous last theorem wasn’t discovered until his son was going through his possessions after his death in 1665. The proof alluded to in the margin, however, was never discovered.
The greatest minds of the next three centuries would attempt to prove Fermat’s theorem until Andrew Wiles would finally succeed in the mid-1990s. Wiles proof required incorporating mathematics that Fermat would have been entirely unaware of, but the result was to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem true.
Fermat’s Enigma by Simon Singh is more a work of history than a work of maths. While the book is about the development and proof of a maths problem, one only needs a common high school maths background to understand how things play out.
Singh starts with the Ancient Greeks and their understanding of maths with a special emphasis on the cult like group that developed around Pythagoras. He traces the development of number theory from its earliest beginnings until the stunning achievement of Dr. Wiles.
The book chronicles the lives and works of many of the greatest mathematicians in history. The thousands of years leading up to Fermat’s statement of the theorem and the hundreds of years between that event and Wiles’ proof show human progress and achievement at its finest.
The book provided me with hours of needed distraction in a time geopolitical turmoil unmatched in my recent memory. Mr. Singh brings to life so many captivating and innovative characters and the book becomes hard to put down. Even if you are a person that hates everything to do with maths, I do not think you will regret reading Fermat’s Enigma.
SOUR By: Olivia Rodrigo
Release Date: May 21, 2021 Date Listened: February 16, 2022
Rating: 9/10
Olivia Rodrigo first came to the public’s attention starring on the small screen with various roles on The Disney Channel. One of her most prominent credits prior to the release of her debut LP was starring as Nini Salazar-Roberts in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on Disney+. Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to what that show could possibly be about. I aged out of Disney’s target demographic a lot longer ago than I like to admit and was never that into their tv programming in the early to mid-aughts anyway.
Like most of you reading this newsletter I’m assuming, I was totally unaware of Ms. Rodrigo before serendipitously coming across her song “drivers license” one day and deciding the song really slapped. I was hesitant to add her debut album to my list of upcoming music to check out. I like a very diverse range of music; if I make a play list, you can count on hearing Fleetwood Mac and Mac Miller, Chief Keef and Keith Urban, Elton John and John Coltrane, Blink-182 and 2pac, The Killers and Killer Mike… you get the idea. But even after loving “drivers license” and enjoying a wide range of music, I still thought I possibly might be too old and/or too male to fully appreciate SOUR.
Despite my concerns, I listened to the album the night it dropped and loved every minute of it. While some of the albums I thought I would love in 2021 wound up not quite living up to my expectations (looking at you Drake, Ed Sheeran, and Kanye), SOUR was easily a top five work of the year for me (Adele’s 30 was my clear top choice). It could be classified as a work where a teenaged girl expresses her tumultuous feelings over 11 tracks, but it never felt repetitive, and Ms. Rodrigo showed an impressive amount of range over the different songs of the album. It was heartening to hear on the single “deja vu” that kids today are still listening to the great music of Billy Joel. “good 4 u” is still going strong all these months after the album was released and was brilliantly performed by Jerome Bettis, Eli Manning, Terry Bradshaw, and many other NFL legends in a recent Pepsi commercial.
I thoroughly enjoyed this album and think it is deserving of all the honors and accolades Ms. Rodrigo and SOUR have continued to garnered since the release of “drivers license”. I have given up hope on the Grammy Awards (there were so many times when they upset me but when The Heist by Macklemore somehow was deemed the best rap album of the year instead of Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, m.A.A.d City it was the last straw) but Ms. Rodrigo and the album are nominated in 7 categories, and she would be a deserving winner in most of them.
Ms. Rodrigo appears to be following in the footsteps of some of her singer-songwriter idols like Taylor Swift, Lorde, Phoebe Bridgers, and others. She recently appeared on the PBS program Austin City Limits with Bridgers. It’s a good program and I would recommend checking it out while it’s still on the PBS website (I don’t want to get too political in this newsletter, but PBS is an incredible American institution and is worth every tax dollar we give to it. I will continue to support to the hilt getting Big Bird and his friends the money they need to continue their great work).
While there are a lot of parallels to music legends and rising stars that have come before and the music listening world greatly anticipates how she will follow up her mesmerizing debut, I think it is important we don’t get ahead of ourselves with burdensome expectations for the rest of her career.
My concern is the numerous people on the internet that label Rodrigo “the next Taylor Swift”. There are many similarities between SOUR and Taylor Swift’s self-titled debut album. I was a freshman in high school when Taylor Swift was released. It was incredible. Back in the days of FM radio, Aimee Burch (associate editor and possible contributor to Tim’s Reviews and Winners) and I would rock to at least one song (usually “Tim McGraw”, “Tear Drops on My Guitar” or “Our Song”) off that album every morning on our ten- or so-minute commute to school. As we well know, 15 years later Ms. Swift has established herself as one of the great singer-songwriters in music history. While it is a huge complement to point out areas where Rodrigo is like Swift, as I know from my NBA fandom, expectations like that can become crippling.
Michael Jordan was the face of the NBA for over a decade and after his second retirement with the Chicago Bulls following his sixth championship, the league was desperate for a star player it could market as “the next MJ”. The problem was/is, there is only one Michael Jordan and there will only ever be one Michael Jordan. Grant Hill, Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant, and others were piled with this pressure to duplicate something that no one on earth could do. Many of the “Next Michael Jordans” had brilliant careers while other folded under the expectations or injuries and didn’t leave much of a mark on the league. Some could argue LeBron James has had a superior career to MJ (I wouldn’t because my formative years as a sports fan were defined by Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and Jackson but there are valid arguments to make for him) but he did it not by being the second Michael Jordan, but instead by being the first Lebron James.
Rodrigo could very well embrace the expectations of a breakout album to continue to produce jaw dropping work in the decades ahead, but she may not. Either way, we should appreciate SOUR for the great work it is and hope that instead of becoming the second Taylor Swift, the one and only Olivia Rodrigo grows into a unique talent that gives us something we’ve never seen before.
Futures Picks
Online registration is back in Illinois. As a result, many sports books are offering enticements to punters like us to try to increase their market share in the state. These two futures might be something to consider with those risk-free bets that are flying around everywhere right now.
Gonzaga to win NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (+375 at BetMGM)
I don’t follow college basketball. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I find watching the NBA or NHL more enjoyable and the college basketball season is completely contained within the seasons of the two professional leagues. But like most Americans, the next month I will be all in on March Madness.
One of the handful of college hoops games I managed to catch this season saw Gonzaga demolish UCLA. The Bulldogs handled a final four team from last season like they were playing a group of middle school players. They’ve since had some tough outings (notably a recent loss to St. Mary’s in West Coast Conference play), but if Gonzaga can string six games together this month at the same level as that UCLA contest, I have a tough time imagining anyone beating them.
I don’t know Ken Pomeroy, nor do I have any idea how he comes about his college basketball rankings and efficiency metrics, but a lot of the smart people in the industry put a lot of faith in them. As a casual fan, I’ve found that the correlation between where he ranks teams and who wins games is pretty strong as well. Gonzaga sit atop the KenPom rankings and second place Arizona (in their first season coached by longtime Gonzaga assistant Tommy Llyod) are a quite a long way back.
Gonzaga have reached the championship game twice in the last four tournaments (2020 was canceled due to the public health crisis). Despite being in Spokane, Washington and competing in the WCC, coach Mark Few has made Gonzaga one of the premier programs in the sport. The only thing they are missing is winning the final game on a Monday night in April.
They have an experienced team lead by All-American big man Drew Timme and senior guard Andrew Nembhard. They also have possible number one overall pick in the NBA draft Chet Holmgren rounding into form. These three are complemented by a number of skilled role players (including former guard for my Iowa State Cyclones Rasir Bolton).
In March Madness I would never feel comfortable taking a single team instead of the field of the other 67 (winning six games in a row and five against outstanding competition is a tough ask) but this is as confident as I’ve felt in a single team since the Anthony Davis led Kentucky Wildcats back in 2012. No matter what happens, the 67 games of the tournament always deliver when it comes to entertainment value. I can’t wait for the field to be announced on Sunday.
Paris Saint-Germain to win Champions League (+750 at FanDuel)
Editor’s Note: Once again, an injury has impacted one of our sports picks between writing and publishing. PSG star forward Kylian Mbappe has been declared doubtful to play in the second leg of their round of 16 Champions League tie away to Real Madrid on Wednesday (3/9). I still like PSG’s chances to advance to the quarter-finals. The MRI on Mbappe’s foot did not show a fracture so he shouldn’t be out for the run in to the final if they advance.
In 2011, the Qatari Sports Investments group (a branch of the sovereign wealth fund run by the petrostate) bought a down on their luck soccer team in the capital of France. Since that time, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have gone on to become the most dominant club in the history of the French league. Lille managed to win Ligue 1 last season snapping PSG’s run of winning the league seven consecutive seasons. Things have returned to normal domestically for the club as they currently reside at the top of the division with a comfortable 13-point lead on second place Nice.
Like Gonzaga with their lack of a national championship, PSG under Qatari ownership have done everything they possibly can do aside from winning the crown jewel of European Soccer and lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy. They have spared no expense to do so. They have spent amounts of money that would have been unconceivable at the start of this century in their quests to be champions of Europe.
Their last manager was Thomas Tuchel. Despite winning everything on offer in France, he was sacked because he couldn’t quite get the job done in continental competition. Tuchel would show it wasn’t for a lack of managerial chops when he led Chelsea to winning the competition last season with astute tactics and man management.
Tuchel was replaced at the start of the calendar year of 2021 with former Espanyol, Southampton, and Tottenham manger Mauricio Pochettino. Poch was viewed as one of the bright lights in the management world after he brought the greatest success to Tottenham in generations. He reached a Champions League final with Spurs and had them regularly competing to win the Premier League. That Spurs have been rudderless, finishing mid table, since Poch was fired may speak most to his talent.
Life wasn’t great for Pochettino his first several months in charge at PSG (it’s never great to lose the league when your resources dwarf those of the other 19 teams by so much). PSG have a habit of bringing in hugely talented and expensive players that sometimes have a reputation of not being the easiest to work with. Things finally seem to be in place and PSG are playing as a cohesive unit and not as eleven individuals.
The roster is littered with star talent. In goal, PSG must choose between the player of the tournament at last summer's EURO 2020 Gianluigi Donnarumma and three-time Champions League winner Keylor Navas.
This summer, PSG flexed their financial muscles and brought in the captains of both of the giants of Spanish soccer Real Madrid (Sergio Ramos) and Barcelona (Lionel Messi). They also brought in a key cog of Inter Milan’s Scudetto winning side in wing back Achraf Hakimi for a cool price tag of about €60 million.
In my opinion, Messi is the best soccer player the world has ever seen. I know a lot of my friends will be in the comments telling me how great Penaldo has been, but as a Napoli fan a player must be a diminutive Argentine to get into the best ever discussion (hulking Portuguese speaking goal scorers aren’t for me). Messi took a while to find his form this season after leaving the club he joined as a young boy when Barcelona couldn’t find a way to make the finances work under La Liga’s financial fair play laws, but lately, at age 34, he has started to get back to the genius level he showed for so long at Barcelona.
In addition to the greatest of all time, PSG also have the forward in the current best form in the world in Kylian Mbappe. Mbappe is only 23 but already owns a World Cup winners medal and is second in PSG history for goals scored. He has been the highest goal scorer in Ligue 1 three times already in his young career. He has been tearing to shreds anyone that tries to stop him since the turn of the new year.
Mbappe is already a legend at the Parisian club, but since last summer, all signs point to him leaving the team at the conclusion of this season to join Real Madrid (Madrid happen to be PSG’s current opponents in the round of 16, PSG holds a 1-0 lead before Wednesday’s second leg). It seems no matter how big the check the Qatari owners are willing to write to retain his services, Mbappe seems set on joining the Spanish club and its higher profile in La Liga next season. The only way to avoid a bitter break-up if he were to leave this summer is to go out after finally delivering the trophy they value more than all others.
As if this team team’s attacking talent wasn’t overwhelming with Messi and Mbappe, they also can call on the services of Neymar, the most expensive player in the history of the game after joining PSG from Barcelona in the summer of 2017 for €222 million. Messi’s fellow Argentina internationals Angel Di Maria and Mauro Icardi are not bad options to turn to if injuries derail some of the bigger names.
PSG won’t just outscore you. With Ramos, Hakimi, and the likes of Marquinhos and Kimpembe the defensive unit is formidable. Marco Verrati is a brilliant talent comparable to AC Milan and Juventus legend Andrea Pirlo. Wijnaldum, Pereira, Herrera, Draxler, and Idrissa Gueye are some of the international stars that can join him in the midfield.
The Champions League is a tough competition to win. PSG are only the fifth favorite to triumph behind German giants Bayern Munich and the England trio of Manchester City, Liverpool, and reigning champions Chelsea. I think any of these teams could win (I wouldn’t totally rule out a Cinderella Story run from Dutch club Ajax either) but I like the odds offered for PSG best.
"your guess is as good as mine" had me LOLing! Love the kind review of SOUR. I don't know much about math but it intrigues me and the book sounds good :). Another great newsletter by Tim!