Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh
Published 1997 · 75,000 words · about 5 hours at an average pace · History, Nonfiction, Science & Nature
How hard is Fermat's Enigma to read?
Fermat's Enigma scores 28 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 40 out of 100
- Mathematical concepts explained without formal notation. Some number theory vocabulary.
- Sentence structure: 32 out of 100
- Abstraction: 50 out of 100
- Mathematical concepts require abstract thinking, but Singh grounds them in human stories.
- Information density: 50 out of 100
- Mathematical history and biography interwoven. Moderate density for a popular science book.
- Narrative indirection: 15 out of 100
- Chronological narrative with clear forward momentum.
- Symbolic density: 15 out of 100
- The theorem itself is literal, not symbolic. Singh works through narrative.
- Ironic distance: 15 out of 100
- Earnest, enthusiastic tone throughout.
- Resolution withholding: 30 out of 100
- The proof's discovery is the climax. Singh builds tension toward the resolution.
- Structural complexity: 25 out of 100
- Chronological narrative from Fermat to Wiles. Clear structure.
How Fermat's Enigma is regarded
Fermat's Enigma holds a literary regard score of 48 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.