Reply To: Fermat's Last Theorem – with a grain of salt

PY-

I think there is a simple answer to that. Anyone familiar with mathematics knows that as you start to fiddle with higher orders, things get more – not less – complicated.

Fermat may have toyed with hundreds of 3rd and 4th order equations to see if he could find a counter-example. There is no way to know how much time he spent trying out possibilities. After that it is no great leap to assume that there won’t be any solutions in higher order equations, either. Not rock-solid proof, but very sound mathematical reasoning.