Fermat, considered one of the greatest mathematicians in the seventeenth century, was born in Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France on August 17, 1601. His father was a wealthy leather merchant who was also the second consul of Beaumont-de-Lomagne and his mother's family was in the legal professions. Fermat was not an only child for he also had a brother and two sisters. He was very courteous and kind which had proven helpful in a dispute with Descartes, which concluded with a friendly smile. Fermat grew up in his place of birth and is believed to have gone to school at a local Franciscan Monastery and is also believed have been home schooled as well. He later attended the University of Toulouse and then later moved to Bordeaux and it was here where he began his interest in mathematics. After that, he went to the University of Orleans where he received his Bachelor's Degre

e in law, ending his school years. He had a love for mathematics but did not let his love completely take his time away from his practice. He had many offices in the Toulouse government. He moved from the lower chambers to the higher chambers and was eventually head of the criminal court or the highest position in the Toulouse criminal court. When he retired he devoted most of his time to his hobby, mathematics.

He did marry and have five children. In fact it was his son Samuel who published his father's findings in the "Fermat's Last Theorem." He was able to change his name from Pierre Fermat to Pierre de Fermat because of the office he held in the Toulouse government. Fermat worked with a number of mathematicians such as Pascal. Fermat did not publish his work except for when he published a paper anonymously. He had a dispute with Descartes with minima, maxima and tangents. He wrote papers about calculus before Sir Isaac Newton was even born! Fermat died in Castres, France on January 12, 1665, he was sixty-four years old.

Fermat made many contributions to not only the world of mathematics but to optics as well for he provided a law for light travel. He proved mathematically that the law for the refraction of light follows a path that takes the shortest amount of time. Fermat and Pascal worked together and invented the theory of probability.

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