A 'Grand Unified Theory' of Math Just Got a Little Bit Closer

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In 1994, an earthquake of a proof shook up the mathematical world. The mathematician Andrew Wiles had finally settled Fermat's Last Theorem, a central problem in number theory that had remained open for over three centuries. The proof didn't just enthral mathematicians--it made the front page of The New York Times. But to accomplish it, Wiles (with help from the mathematician Richard Taylor) first had to prove a more subtle intermediate statement--one with implications that extended beyond Fermat's puzzle.