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Arithmetica by Diophantus
Diophantus of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician who was sometimes called "the father of algebra". Arithmetica is an ancient Greek text on mathematics written by him in the 3rd century AD. It is a collection of 130 algebraic problems giving solutions of equations. Equations in the book are called Diophantine equations. The method for solving these equations is known as Diophantine analysis -
Jan 1, 1048
Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam was a mathematician born in Persia. He was known for using a geometric approach to for solving cubic equations using line segments. Note that this is a different approach to solving cubic equations than what was used by Liber Abaci later on. His use of the unknown variable in an arabic name was later abbreviated to the current day “x” used as the unknown variable that is being solved for in an equation. -
Jan 1, 1202
Liber Abaci
Fibonacci is best known to the modern world for the spreading of the Hindu and Arabic numeral system in Europe with the publication of his book, Liber Abaci which translates to Book of Calculation. He is also known for a number sequence named the Fibonacci numbers after him, which he used as an example in the Liber Abaci. The first two numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 0 and 1, and each number thereafter is the sum of the previous two. This is what is known as F sub n in our classroom. -
Jan 1, 1545
Ars Magna
Ars magna, which translates into "The Great Art", is an important book on Algebra published by Gerolamo Cardano. It contains techniques for solving cubic and quartic equations. X to the 3rd and 4th equations require a special method to solve. We will be using these techniques a lot this semester. -
Leonhard Euler
Leonard Euler who was a swiss mathemeatician who published "The Elements of Algebra". His work is the building block of many important algebraic notations. The very basic algebraic formula involving f(x) functions were notated by him. In addition, the e in natural logarithms were his and the e is stands for Euler! -
Disquisitiones Arithmeticae
Karl Gauss published one of the most brilliant achievements in mathematics, Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, at the age of 24. In it he creaste a system for the study of number theory which are properties of the integers. Gauss proved that every number is the sum of at most three triangular numbers and developed the algebra of congruences. -
Galois
Evariste Galois was born in Bourge-la-Reine, France in 1811. His major contribution is known as Galois Theory, which he discovered while trying to find roots for polynomial equations. This is the foundation for what is known today as group theory! -
The Laws of Thought
George Boole was an English mathematician who worked in the fields of differential equations and algebraic logic. He is best known as the author of The Laws of Thought, an influential book on algerbraic logic. He was the inventor of Boolean Logic, which is now the basis of the modern computer. -
Aryabhatiya by Aryabhata
Aryabhata was the first in the line of great mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His most famous work is the Aryabhatiya.
In Aryabhatiya, Aryabhata provided results for the summation of series of squares and cubes, which we will be working on this year. He also worked on the approximation for pi. -
The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing
This is a mathematical book written by Al Khwarizmi, a persian mathematician. The term algebra is derived from the name of one of the basic operations with equations described in this book. This book is most famous for its use of simplification of linear and quadratic equations.
