Mathematics in 100 Key Breakthroughs presents a series of essays explaining the fundamentals of the most exciting and important maths concepts you really need to know. Richard Elwes profiles the important, groundbreaking and front- of-mind discoveries that have had a profound influence on our way of life and understanding. From the origins of counting over 35,000 years ago, right up to the very latest breakthroughs such as Wiles' Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem and Cook & Wolfram's Rule 110, it tells a story of discovery, invention, gradual progress and inspired leaps of the imagination.