A collection of expanded versions of lectures given at an instructional conference on number theory and arithmetic geometry held at Boston University. The purpose of the conference, and indeed this book, is to introduce and explain the many ideas and techniques used by Wiles in his proof, and to explain how his result can be combined with Ribet's theorem and ideas of Frey and Serre to show, at long last, that Fermat's Last Theorem is true. The book begins with an overview of the complete proof, theory of elliptic curves, modular functions, modular curves, Galois cohomology, and finite group schemes. In recognition of the historical significance of Fermat's Last Theorem, the volume concludes by reflecting on the history of the problem, while placing Wiles' theorem into a more general Diophantine context suggesting future applications.
