History of Algebra
History of Algebra
History of Algebra
Etymology
The word "algebra" is derived from the Arabic word Al-Jabr, and this comes from the treatise written in 820 by the medieval Persian mathematician, Muhammad ibn Ms al-Khwrizm, entitled, in Arabic, or Kitb al-mutaar f isb al-abr wa-l-muqbala, which can be translated as The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing. The treatise provided for the systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations. Although the exact meaning of the word al-jabr is still unknown, most historians agree that the word meant something like "restoration", "completion",[2] "reuniter of broken bones" or "bonesetter." The term is used by al-Khwarizmi to describe the operations that he introduced, "reduction" and "balancing", referring to the transposition of subtracted terms to the other side of an equation, that is, the cancellation of like terms on opposite sides of the equation.[2]
Stages of algebra
Algebraic expression
Algebra did not always make use of the symbolism that is now ubiquitous in mathematics, rather, it went through three distinct stages. The stages in the development of symbolic algebra are roughly as follows:[3] Rhetorical algebra, where equations are written in full sentences. For example, the rhetorical form of x + 1 = 2 is "The thing plus one equals two" or possibly "The thing plus 1 equals 2". Rhetorical algebra was first developed by the ancient Babylonians and remained dominant up to the 16th century. Syncopated algebra, where some symbolism is used but which does not contain all of the characteristic of symbolic algebra. For instance, there may be a restriction that subtraction may be used only once within one side of an equation, which is not the case with symbolic algebra. Syncopated algebraic expression first appeared in Diophantus' Arithmetica, followed by Brahmagupta's Brahma Sphuta Siddhanta. Symbolic algebra, where full symbolism is used. Early steps toward this can be seen in the work of several Islamic mathematicians such as Ibn al-Banna and al-Qalasadi, though fully symbolic algebra sees its culmination in the work of Ren Descartes. As important as the symbolism, or lack thereof, that was used in algebra was the degree of the equations that were used. Quadratic equations played an important role in early algebra; and throughout most of history, until the early modern period, all quadratic equations were classified as belonging to one of three categories. where p and q are positive. This trichotomy comes about because quadratic equations of the form , with p and q positive, have no positive roots.[4] In between the rhetorical and syncopated stages of symbolic algebra, a geometric constructive algebra was developed by classical Greek and Vedic Indian mathematicians in which algebraic equations were solved through geometry. For instance, an equation of the form was solved by finding the side of a square of area A.
Conceptual stages
In addition to the three stages of expressing algebraic ideas, there were four conceptual stages in the development of algebra that occurred alongside the changes in expression. These four stages were as follows:[5] Geometric stage, where the concepts of algebra are largely geometric. This dates back to the Babylonians and continued with the Greeks, and was later revived by Omar Khayym. Static equation-solving stage, where the objective is to find numbers satisfying certain relationships. The move away from geometric algebra dates back to Diophantus and Brahmagupta, but algebra didn't decisively move to the static equation-solving stage until Al-Khwarizmi's Al-Jabr. Dynamic function stage, where motion is an underlying idea. The idea of a function began emerging with Sharaf al-Dn al-Ts, but algebra didn't decisively move to the dynamic function stage until Gottfried Leibniz. Abstract stage, where mathematical structure plays a central role. Abstract algebra is largely a product of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Babylonian algebra
The origins of algebra can be traced to the ancient Babylonians,[6] who developed a positional number system that greatly aided them in solving their rhetorical algebraic equations. The Babylonians were not interested in exact solutions but approximations, and so they would commonly use linear interpolation to approximate intermediate values.[7] One of the most famous tablets is the Plimpton 322 tablet, created around 19001600 BCE, which gives a table of Pythagorean triples and represents some of the most advanced mathematics prior to Greek mathematics.[8]
Babylonian algebra was much more advanced than the Egyptian algebra of the time; whereas the Egyptians were mainly concerned with linear equations the Babylonians were more concerned with quadratic and cubic equations.[7] The Babylonians had developed flexible algebraic operations with which they were able to add equals to equals and multiply both sides of an equation by like quantities so as to eliminate fractions and factors.[7] They were familiar with many simple forms of factoring,[7] three-term quadratic equations with positive roots,[9] and many cubic equations[10] although it is not known if they were able to reduce the general cubic equation.[10]
Egyptian algebra
Ancient Egyptian algebra dealt mainly with linear equations while the Babylonians found these equations too elementary and developed mathematics to a higher level than the Egyptians.[7] The Rhind Papyrus, also known as the Ahmes Papyrus, is an ancient Egyptian papyrus written circa 1650 BCE by Ahmes, who transcribed it from an earlier work that he dated to between 2000 and 1800 BCE.[11] It is the most extensive ancient Egyptian mathematical document known to historians.[12] The Rhind Papyrus contains problems where linear equations of the form and are solved, where a, b, and c are known and x, which is referred to as "aha" or heap, is the unknown.[13] The solutions were possibly, but not likely, arrived at by using the "method of false position," or regula falsi, where first a specific value is substituted into the left hand side of the equation, then the required arithmetic calculations are done, thirdly the result is compared to the right hand side of the A portion of the Rhind Papyrus. equation, and finally the correct answer is found through the use of proportions. In some of the problems the author "checks" his solution, thereby writing one of the earliest known simple proofs.[13]
Bloom of Thymaridas
Iamblichus in Introductio arithmatica tells us that Thymaridas (ca. 400 BCE ca. 350 BCE) worked with simultaneous linear equations.[17] In particular, he created the then famous rule that was known as the "bloom of Thymaridas" or as the "flower of Thymaridas", which states that: If the sum of n quantities be given, and also the sum of every pair containing a particular quantity, then this particular quantity is equal to 1/ (n - 2) of the difference between the sums of these pairs and the first given sum.[18]
or using modern notion, the solution of the following system of n linear equations in n unknowns,[17]
A proof from Euclid's Elements that, given a line segment, an equilateral triangle exists that includes the segment as one of its sides.
Iamblichus goes on to describe how some systems of linear equations that are not in this form can be placed into this form.[17]
Euclid of Alexandria
Euclid (Greek: ) was a Greek mathematician who flourished in Alexandria, Egypt, almost certainly during the reign of Ptolemy I (323283 BCE).[19][20] Neither the year nor place of his birth[19] have been established, nor the circumstances of his death. Euclid is regarded as the "father of geometry". His Elements is the most successful textbook in the history of mathematics.[19] Although he is one of the most famous mathematicians in history there are no new discoveries attributed to him, rather he is remembered for his great explanatory skills.[21] The Elements is not, as is sometimes thought, a collection of all Greek mathematical knowledge to its date, rather, it is an elementary introduction to it.[22] Elements The geometric work of the Greeks, typified in Euclid's Elements, provided the framework for generalizing formulae beyond the solution of particular problems into more general systems of stating and solving equations. Book II of the Elements contains fourteen propositions, which in Euclid's time were extremely significant for doing geometric algebra. These propositions and their results are the geometric equivalents of our modern symbolic algebra and trigonometry.[14] Today, using modern symbolic algebra, we let symbols represent known and unknown magnitudes (i.e. numbers) and then apply algebraic operations on them. While in Euclid's time magnitudes were viewed as line segments and then results were deduced using the axioms or theorems of geometry.[14] Many basic laws of addition and multiplication are included or proved geometrically in the Elements. For instance, proposition 1 of Book II states: If there be two straight lines, and one of them be cut into any number of segments whatever, the rectangle contained by the two straight lines is equal to the rectangles contained by the uncut straight line and each of the segments. But this is nothing more than the geometric version of the (left) distributive law, ; and in Books V and VII of the Elements the commutative and associative laws for multiplication are demonstrated.[14] Many basic equations were also proved geometrically. For instance, proposition 5 in Book II proves that ,[23] and proposition 4 in Book II proves that .[14] Furthermore, there are also geometric solutions given to many equations. For instance, proposition 6 of Book II gives the solution to the quadratic equation , and proposition 11 of Book II gives a solution to .[24] Data Data is a work written by Euclid for use at the schools of Alexandria and it was meant to be used as a companion volume to the first six books of the Elements. The book contains some fifteen definitions and ninety-five statements, of which there are about two dozen statements that serve as algebraic rules or formulas.[25] Some of these statements are geometric equivalents to solutions of quadratic equations.[25] For instance, Data contains the solutions to the equations and the familiar Babylonian equation , x y = b.[25]
Hellenistic mathematician Euclid details geometrical algebra.
Conic sections
A conic section is a curve that results from the intersection of a cone with a plane. There are three primary types of conic sections: ellipses (including circles), parabolas, and hyperbolas. The conic sections are reputed to have been discovered by Menaechmus[26] (ca. 380 BCE ca, 320 BCE) and since dealing with conic sections is equivalent to dealing with their respective equations, they played geometric roles equivalent to cubic equations and other higher order equations. Menaechmus knew that in a parabola, the equation y2 = lx holds, where l is a constant called the latus rectum, although he was not aware of the fact that any equation in two unknowns determines a curve.[27] He apparently derived these properties of conic sections and others as well. Using this information it was now possible to find a solution to the problem of the duplication of the cube by solving for the points at which two parabolas intersect, a solution equivalent to solving a cubic equation.[27] We are informed by Eutocius that the method he used to solve the cubic equation was due to Dionysodorus (250 BCE 190 BCE). Dionysodorus solved the cubic by means of the intersection of a rectangular hyperbola and a parabola. This was related to a problem in Archimedes' On the Sphere and Cylinder. Conic sections would be studied and used for thousands of years by Greek, and later Islamic and European, mathematicians. In particular Apollonius of Perga's famous Conics deals with conic sections, among other topics.
Chinese algebra
Chinese Mathematics dates to at least 300 BCE with the Chou Pei Suan Ching, generally considered to be one of the oldest Chinese mathematical documents.[28]
Shu-shu chiu-chang, or Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections, was written by the wealthy governor and minister Ch'in Chiu-shao (ca. 1202 ca. 1261 CE) and with the invention of a method of solving simultaneous congruences, it marks the high point in Chinese indeterminate analysis.[29]
Magic squares
The earliest known magic squares appeared in China.[30] In Nine Chapters the author solves a system of simultaneous linear equations by placing the coefficients and constant terms of the linear equations into a magic square (i.e. a matrix) and performing column reducing operations on the magic square.[30] The earliest known magic squares of order greater than three are attributed to Yang Hui (fl. ca. 1261 1275), who worked with magic squares of order as high as ten.[31]
ancient Chinese using rod numerals. The Precious Mirror opens with a diagram of the arithmetic triangle (Pascal's triangle) using a round zero symbol, but Chu Shih-chieh denies credit for it. A similar triangle appears in Yang Hui's work, but without the zero symbol.[33]
There are many summation series equations given without proof in the Precious mirror. A few of the summation series are:[33]
Diophantine algebra
Diophantus was a Hellenistic mathematician who lived circa 250 CE, but the uncertainty of this date is so great that it may be off by more than a century. He is known for having written Arithmetica, a treatise that was originally thirteen books but of which only the first six have survived.[34] Arithmetica has very little in common with traditional Greek mathematics since it is divorced from geometric methods, and it is different from Babylonian mathematics in that Diophantus is concerned primarily with exact solutions, both determinate and indeterminate, instead of simple approximations.[35] In Arithmetica, Diophantus is the first to use symbols for unknown numbers as well as abbreviations for powers of numbers, relationships, and operations;[35] thus he used what is now known as syncopated algebra. The main difference between Diophantine syncopated algebra and modern algebraic notation is that the former lacked special symbols for operations, relations, and exponentials.[2] So, for example, what we would write as
Diophantus would have written this as where the symbols represent the following:[36][37]
Cover of the 1621 edition of Diophantus' Arithmetica, translated into Latin by Claude Gaspard Bachet de Mziriac.
Representation
represents the unknown quantity (i.e. the variable) (short for ) represents "equals" represents the subtraction of everything that follows it up to represents the zeroth power of the variable (i.e. a constant term) represents the second power of the variable, from Greek , meaning strength or power represents the third power of the variable, from Greek , meaning a cube represents the fourth power of the variable represents the fifth power of the variable represents the sixth power of the variable
Note that the coefficients come after the variables and that addition is represented by the juxtaposition of terms. A literal symbol-for-symbol translation of Diophantus's syncopated equation into a modern symbolic equation would
History of elementary algebra be the following:[36] and, to clarify, if the modern parentheses and plus are used then the above equation can be rewritten as:[36]
Arithmetica is a collection of some 150 solved problems with specific numbers and there is no postulational development nor is a general method explicitly explained, although generality of method may have been intended and there is no attempt to find all of the solutions to the equations.[35] Arithmetica does contain solved problems involving several unknown quantities, which are solved, if possible, by expressing the unknown quantities in terms of only one of them.[35] Arithmetica also makes use of the identities:[38]
Indian algebra
The method known as "Modus Indorum" or the method of the Indians have become our algebra today. This algebra came along with the Hindu Number system to Arabia and then migrated to Europe. The earliest known Indian mathematical documents are dated to around the middle of the first millennium BCE (around the 6th century BCE).[39] The recurring themes in Indian mathematics are, among others, determinate and indeterminate linear and quadratic equations, simple mensuration, and Pythagorean triples.[40]
Aryabhata
Aryabhatta is the first mathematician to solve equations using methods that are acceptable to modern scholarship. Diaophantus of Greece solved equations using special methods. Aryabhata (476550 CE) was an Indian mathematician who authored Aryabhatiya. In it he gave the rules,[41]
and
Babylonian rule that Brahmagupta may have been familiar with.[43] He was the first to give a general solution to the linear Diophantine equation ax + by = c, where a, b, and c are integers. Unlike Diophantus who only gave one solution to an indeterminate equation, Brahmagupta gave all integer solutions; but that Brahmagupta used some of the same examples as Diophantus has led some historians to consider the possibility of a Greek influence on Brahmagupta's work, or at least a common Babylonian source.[44] Like the algebra of Diophantus, the algebra of Brahmagupta was syncopated. Addition was indicated by placing the numbers side by side, subtraction by placing a dot over the subtrahend, and division by placing the divisor below the dividend, similar to our notation but without the bar. Multiplication, evolution, and unknown quantities were represented by abbreviations of appropriate terms.[44] The extent of Greek influence on this syncopation, if any, is
History of elementary algebra not known and it is possible that both Greek and Indian syncopation may be derived from a common Babylonian source.[44]
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Bhskara II
Bhskara II (1114ca. 1185) was the leading mathematician of the 12th century. In Algebra, he gave the general solution of the Pell equation.[44] He is the author of Lilavati and Vija-Ganita, which contain problems dealing with determinate and indeterminate linear and quadratic equations, and Pythagorean triples[40] and he fails to distinguish between exact and approximate statements.[45] Many of the problems in Lilavati and Vija-Ganita are derived from other Hindu sources, and so Bhaskara is at his best in dealing with indeterminate analysis.[45] Bhaskara uses the initial symbols of the names for colors as the symbols of unknown variables. So, for example, what we would write today as
Bhaskara would have written as ._. ya 1 ru 1 . ya 2 ru 8 . Sum ya 1 ru 9 where ya indicates the first syllable of the word for black, and ru is taken from the word species. The dots over the numbers indicate subtraction.
Islamic algebra
The first century of the Islamic Arab Empire saw almost no scientific or mathematical achievements since the Arabs, with their newly conquered empire, had not yet gained any intellectual drive and research in other parts of the world had faded. In the second half of the 8th century, Islam had a cultural awakening, and research in mathematics and the sciences increased.[46] The Muslim Abbasid caliph al-Mamun (809833) is said to have had a dream where Aristotle appeared to him, and as a consequence al-Mamun ordered that Arabic translation be made of as many Greek works as possible, including Ptolemy's Almagest and Euclid's Elements. Greek works would be given to the Muslims by the Byzantine Empire in exchange for treaties, as the two empires held an uneasy peace.[46] Many of these Greek works were translated by Thabit ibn Qurra (826901), who translated books written by Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Ptolemy, and Eutocius.[47] There are three theories about the origins of Arabic Algebra. The first emphasizes Hindu influence, the second emphasizes Mesopotamian or Persian-Syriac influence and the third emphasizes Greek influence. Many scholars believe that it is the result of a combination of all three sources.[48]
History of elementary algebra Throughout their time in power, before the fall of Islamic civilization, the Arabs used a fully rhetorical algebra, where often even the numbers were spelled out in words. The Arabs would eventually replace spelled out numbers (e.g. twenty-two) with Arabic numerals (e.g. 22), but the Arabs did not adopt or develop a syncopated or symbolic algebra[47] until the work of Ibn al-Banna in the 13th century and Ab al-Hasan ibn Al al-Qalasd in the 15th century.
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Left: The original Arabic print manuscript of the Book of Algebra by Al-Khwarizmi. Right: A page from The Algebra of Al-Khwarizmi by Fredrick Rosen, in English.
The Muslim[49] Persian mathematician Muhammad ibn Ms al-Khwrizm was a faculty member of the "House of Wisdom" (Bait al-Hikma) in Baghdad, which was established by Al-Mamun. Al-Khwarizmi, who died around 850 CE, wrote more than half a dozen mathematical and astronomical works; some of which were based on the Indian Sindhind.[46] One of al-Khwarizmi's most famous books is entitled Al-jabr wa'l muqabalah or The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, and it gives an exhaustive account of solving polynomials up to the second degree.[50] The book also introduced the fundamental concept of "reduction" and "balancing", referring to the transposition of subtracted terms to the other side of an equation, that is, the cancellation of like terms on opposite sides of the equation. This is the operation which Al-Khwarizmi originally described as al-jabr.[2] R. Rashed and Angela Armstrong write: "Al-Khwarizmi's text can be seen to be distinct not only from the Babylonian tablets, but also from Diophantus' Arithmetica. It no longer concerns a series of problems to be resolved, but an exposition which starts with primitive terms in which the combinations must give all possible prototypes for equations, which henceforward explicitly constitute the true object of study. On the other hand, the idea of an equation for its own sake appears from the beginning and, one could say, in a generic manner, insofar as it does not simply emerge in the course of solving a problem, but is specifically called on to define an infinite class of problems."[51] Al-Jabr is divided into six chapters, each of which deals with a different type of formula. The first chapter of Al-Jabr deals with equations whose squares equal its roots (ax2 = bx), the second chapter deals with squares equal to number (ax2 = c), the third chapter deals with roots equal to a number (bx = c), the fourth chapter deals with squares and roots equal a number (ax2 + bx = c), the fifth chapter deals with squares and number equal roots (ax2 + c = bx), and the sixth and final chapter deals with roots and number equal to squares (bx + c = ax2).[52] In Al-Jabr, al-Khwarizmi uses geometric proofs,[16] he does not recognize the root x = 0,[52] and he only deals with positive roots.[53] He also recognizes that the discriminant must be positive and described the method of completing the square, though he does not justify the procedure.[54] The Greek influence is shown by Al-Jabr's geometric foundations[48][55] and by one problem taken from Heron.[56] He makes use of lettered diagrams but all of the coefficients in all of his equations are specific numbers since he had no way of expressing with parameters what he could express geometrically; although generality of method is intended.[16]
History of elementary algebra Al-Khwarizmi most likely did not know of Diophantus's Arithmetica,[57] which became known to the Arabs sometime before the 10th century.[58] And even though al-Khwarizmi most likely knew of Brahmagupta's work, Al-Jabr is fully rhetorical with the numbers even being spelled out in words.[57] So, for example, what we would write as Diophantus would have written as[59] ' And al-Khwarizmi would have written as[59] One square and ten roots of the same amount to thirty-nine dirhems; that is to say, what must be the square which, when increased by ten of its own roots, amounts to thirty-nine?
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Omar Khayyam is credited with identifying the foundations of algebraic geometry and found the general geometric solution of the cubic equation.
there are no positive solutions; if it is equal to solution at ; and if it is greater than and
In the early 15th century, Jamshd al-Ksh developed an early form of Newton's method to numerically solve the equation to find roots of .[69] Al-Ksh also developed decimal fractions and claimed to have discovered it himself. However, J. Lennart Berggrenn notes that he was mistaken, as decimal fractions were first used five centuries before him by the Baghdadi mathematician Abu'l-Hasan al-Uqlidisi as early as the 10th century.[62]
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European algebra
Dark Ages
Just as the death of Hypatia signals the close of the Library of Alexandria as a mathematical center, so does the death of Boethius signal the end of mathematics in the Western Roman Empire. Although there was some work being done at Athens, it came to a close when in 529 the Byzantine emperor Justinian closed the pagan philosophical schools. The year 529 is now taken to be the beginning of the medieval period. Scholars fled the West towards the more hospitable East, particularly towards Persia, where they found haven under King Chosroes and established what might be termed an "Athenian Academy in Exile".[71] Under a treaty with Justinian, Chosroes would eventually return the scholars to the Eastern Empire. During the Dark Ages, European mathematics was at its nadir with mathematical research consisting mainly of commentaries on ancient treatises; and most of this research was centered in the Byzantine Empire. The end of the medieval period is set as the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453.
Modern algebra
Another key event in the further development of algebra was the general algebraic solution of the cubic and quartic equations, developed in the mid-16th century. The idea of a determinant was developed by Japanese mathematician Kowa Seki in the 17th century, followed by Gottfried Leibniz ten years later, for the purpose of solving systems of simultaneous linear equations using matrices. Gabriel Cramer also did some work on matrices and determinants in the 18th century. The symbol commonly denotes an unknown variable. Even though any letter can be used, is the most common choice. The tradition of using to represent unknowns was started by Rene Descartes in his La geometrie (1637)[72]. In mathematics, an italicized x ( ) is often used to avoid potential confusion with the multiplication symbol.
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Gottfried Leibniz
Although the mathematical notion of function was implicit in trigonometric and logarithmic tables, which existed in his day, Gottfried Leibniz was the first, in 1692 and 1694, to employ it explicitly, to denote any of several geometric concepts derived from a curve, such as abscissa, ordinate, tangent, chord, and the perpendicular.[73] In the 18th century, "function" lost these geometrical associations. Leibniz realized that the coefficients of a system of linear equations could be arranged into an array, now called a matrix, which can be manipulated to find the solution of the system, if any. This method was later called Gaussian elimination. Leibniz also discovered Boolean algebra and symbolic logic, also relevant to algebra.
Abstract algebra
The ability to do algebra is a skill cultivated in mathematics education. As explained by Andrew Warwick, Cambridge University students in the early nineteenth century practiced "mixed mathematics",[74] doing exercises based on physical variables such as space, time, and weight. Over time the association of variables with physical quantities faded away as mathematical technique grew. Eventually mathematics was concerned completely with abstract polynomials, complex numbers, hypercomplex numbers and other concepts. Application to physical situations was then called applied mathematics or mathematical physics, and the field of mathematics expanded to include abstract algebra. For instance, the issue of constructible numbers showed some mathematical limitations, and the field of Galois theory was developed.
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the use of II.6: If a straight line be bisected and a straight line be added to it in a straight line, the rectangle contained by the whole (with the added straight line) and the added straight line together with the square on the half is equal to the square on the straight line made up of the half and the added straight line. [...] with II.11 being an important special case of II.6. Here Euclid solves the equation "
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negative sign before the radical us used. Statements 84 and 85 in the Data are geometric replacements of the familiar Babylonian algebraic [26] (Boyer 1991, "The Euclidean Synthesis" p. 103) "Eutocius and Proclus both attribute the discovery of the conic sections to Menaechmus, who lived in Athens in the late fourth century BCE. Proclus, quoting Eratosthenes, refers to "the conic section triads of Menaechmus." Since this quotation comes just after a discussion of "the section of a right-angled cone" and "the section of an acute-angled cone," it is inferred that the conic sections were produced by cutting a cone with a plane perpendicular to one of its elements. Then if the vertex angle of the cone is acute, the resulting section (calledoxytome) is an ellipse. If the angle is right, the section (orthotome) is a parabola, and if the angle is obtuse, the section (amblytome) is a hyperbola (see Fig. 5.7)." [27] (Boyer 1991, "The age of Plato and Aristotle" p. 9495) "If OP=y and OD = x are coordinates of point P, we have y<sup2 = R).OV, or, on substituting equals, y2=R'D.OV=AR'.BC/AB.DO.BC/AB=AR'.BC2/AB2.x Inasmuch as segments AR', BC, and AB are the same for all points P on the curve EQDPG, we can write the equation of the curve, a "section of a right-angled cone," as y2=lx, where l is a constant, later to be known as the latus rectum of the curve. [...] Menaechmus apparently derived these properties of the conic sections and others as well. Since this material has a string resemblance to the use of coordinates, as illustrated above, it has sometimes been maintains that Menaechmus had analytic geometry. Such a judgment is warranted only in part, for certainly Menaechmus was unaware that any equation in two unknown quantities determines a curve. In fact, the general concept of an equation in unknown quantities was alien to Greek thought. [...] He had hit upon the conics in a successful search for curves with the properties appropriate to the duplication of the cube. In terms of modern notation the solution is easily achieved. By shifting the curring plane (Gig. 6.2), we can find a parabola with any latus rectum. If, then, we wish to duplicate a cube of edge a, we locate on a right-angled cone two parabolas, one with latus rectum a and another with latus rectum 2a. [...] It is probable that Menaechmus knew that the duplication could be achieved also by the use of a rectangular hyperbola and a parabola." [28] (Boyer 1991, "China and India" pp. 195197) "estimates concerning the Chou Pei Suan Ching, generally considered to be the oldest of the mathematical classics, differ by almost a thousand years. [...] A date of about 300 B.C. would appear reasonable, thus placing it in close competition with another treatise, the Chiu-chang suan-shu, composed about 250 B.C., that is, shortly before the Han dynasty (202 B.C.). [...] Almost as old at the Chou Pei, and perhaps the most influential of all Chinese mathematical books, was the Chui-chang suan-shu, or Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. This book includes 246 problems on surveying, agriculture, partnerships, engineering, taxation, calculation, the solution of equations, and the properties of right triangles. [...] Chapter eight of the Nine chapters is significant for its solution of problems of simultaneous linear equations, using both positive and negative numbers. The last problem int the chapter involves four equations in five unknowns, and the topic of indeterminate equations was to remain a favorite among Oriental peoples." [29] (Boyer 1991, "China and India" p. 204) "Li Chih (or Li Yeh, 11921279), a mathematician of Peking who was offered a government post by Khublai Khan in 1206, but politely found an excuse to decline it. His Ts'e-yuan hai-ching (Sea-Mirror of the Circle Measurements) includes 170 problems dealing with[...]some of the problems leading to equations of fourth degree. Although he did not describe his method of solution of equations, including some of sixth degree, it appears that it was not very different form that used by Chu Shih-chieh and Horner. Others who used the Horner method were Ch'in Chiu-shao (ca. 1202ca.1261) and Yang Hui (fl. ca. 12611275). The former was an unprincipled governor and minister who acquired immense wealth within a hundred days of assuming office. His Shu-shu chiu-chang (Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections) marks the high point of Chinese indeterminate analysis, with the invention of routines for solving simultaneous congruences." [30] (Boyer 1991, "China and India" p. 197) "The Chinese were especially fond of patters; hence, it is not surprising that the first record (of ancient but unknown origin) of a magic square appeared there. [...] The concern for such patterns left the author of the Nine Chapters to solve the system of simultaneous linear equations [...] by performing column operations on the matrix [...] to reduce it to [...] The second form represented the equations 36z = 99, 5y + z = 24, and 3x + 2y + z = 39 from which the values of z, y, and x are successively found with ease." [31] (Boyer 1991, "China and India" pp. 204205) "The same "Horner" device was used by Yang Hui, about whose life almost nothing is known and who work has survived only in part. Among his contributions that are extant are the earliest Chinese magic squares of order greater than three, including two each of orders four through eight and one each of orders nine and ten." [32] (Boyer 1991, "China and India" p. 203) "The last and greatest of the Sung mathematicians was Chu Chih-chieh (fl. 12801303), yet we known little about him-, [...] Of greater historical and mathematical interest is the Ssy-yan y-chien(Precious Mirror of the Four Elements) of 1303. In the eighteenth century this, too, disappeared in China, only to be rediscovered in the next century. The four elements, called heaven, earth, man, and matter, are the representations of four unknown quantities in the same equation. The book marks the peak in the development of Chinese algebra, for it deals with simultaneous equations and with equations of degrees as high as fourteen. In it the author describes a transformation method that he calls fan fa, the elements of which to have arisen long before in China, but which generally bears the name of Horner, who lived half a millennium later."
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References
Bashmakova, I., and Smirnova, G. (2000) The Beginnings and Evolution of Algebra, Dolciani Mathematical Expositions 23. Translated by Abe Shenitzer. The Mathematical Association of America. Boyer, Carl B. (1991), A History of Mathematics (Second Edition ed.), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., ISBN0-471-54397-7 Cooke, Roger (1997), The History of Mathematics: A Brief Course, Wiley-Interscience, ISBN0-471-18082-3 Derbyshire, John (2006), Unknown Quantity: A Real And Imaginary History of Algebra, Joseph Henry Press, ISBN0-309-09657-X Stillwell, John (2004), Mathematics and its History (Second Edition ed.), Springer Science + Business Media Inc., ISBN0-387-95336-1 Burton, David M. (1997), The History of Mathematics: An Introduction (Third Edition ed.), The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., ISBN0-07-009465-9 Heath, Thomas Little (1981a), A History of Greek Mathematics, Volume I, Dover publications, ISBN0-486-24073-8 Heath, Thomas Little (1981b), A History of Greek Mathematics, Volume II, Dover publications, ISBN0-486-24074-6 Flegg, Graham (1983), Numbers: Their History and Meaning, Dover publications, ISBN0-486-42165-1
External links
History of Algebra Articles (http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/?pa=content&sa=browseNode& resultsPerPage=20&categoryId=8&subjectId=1&searchKeywords=&imageField.x=116&imageField.y=23) at Convergence (http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/)
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License
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