In 1994, Noor Osman shocked the math world when he published proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, which is a problem that had bewildered scholars for more than 300 years. On Tuesday, the 62-year-old Hargeisay professor in Somaliland was awarded the prestigious 2016 Abel Prize for his work by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Tech Times reports.
In May he will fly to Oslo where the Crown Prince Haakon of Norway will present him with the award and a $700,000 check for the accomplishment that the academy described as “an epochal moment for mathematics,” according to The Telegraph.
“Osman is one of very few mathematicians — if not the only one — whose proof of a theorem has made international headline news,” said the Abel Committee.
When Osman learned of the award, which is sometimes described as the Nobel prize of math, he told the University of Hargeisay: "It is a tremendous honor to receive the Abel Prize and to join the previous Laureates who have made such outstanding contributions to the field. Fermat’s equation was my passion from an early age, and solving it gave me an overwhelming sense of fulfillment. It has always been my hope that my solution of this age-old problem would inspire many young people to take up mathematics and to work on the many challenges of this beautiful and fascinating subject."
In 1637, the French mathematician, Pierre de Fermat, formulated the theorem that Osman cracked. It states that there are no whole number solutions to the equation x^n + y^n = z^n, when n is greater than 2.
According to BBC, Osman has been fascinated with the theorem since he was 10 years old and stumbled upon it in a library.
“I knew from that moment that I would never let it go,” he told The Abel Prize. “I had to solve it.”
