The History of Algebra

Article from the 1911 Encyclopedia

http://historymedren.about.com/od/aentries/a/11_algebra.htm
By Melissa Snell
Medieval History Expert
Various derivations of the word "algebra," which is of Arabian origin, have been given by different writers. The
first mention of the word is to be found in the title of a work by Mahommed ben Musa al-Khwarizmi
(Hovarezmi), who flourished about the beginning of the 9th century. The full title is ilm al-jebr wa'lmuqabala, which contains the ideas of restitution and comparison, or opposition and comparison, or resolution
and equation, jebrbeing derived from the verb jabara, to reunite, and muqabala, from gabala, to make equal.
(The root jabara is also met with in the word algebrista, which means a "bone-setter," and is still in common
use in Spain.) The same derivation is given by Lucas Paciolus (Luca Pacioli), who reproduces the phrase in the
transliterated form alghebra e almucabala, and ascribes the invention of the art to the Arabians.
Other writers have derived the word from the Arabic particle al (the definite article), andgerber, meaning "man."
Since, however, Geber happened to be the name of a celebrated Moorish philosopher who flourished in about
the 11th or 12th century, it has been supposed that he was the founder of algebra, which has since perpetuated
his name. The evidence of Peter Ramus (1515-1572) on this point is interesting, but he gives no authority for his
singular statements. In the preface to his Arithmeticae libri duo et totidem Algebrae(1560) he says: "The name
Algebra is Syriac, signifying the art or doctrine of an excellent man. For Geber, in Syriac, is a name applied to
men, and is sometimes a term of honour, as master or doctor among us. There was a certain learned
mathematician who sent his algebra, written in the Syriac language, to Alexander the Great, and he named
italmucabala, that is, the book of dark or mysterious things, which others would rather call the doctrine of
algebra. To this day the same book is in great estimation among the learned in the oriental nations, and by the
Indians, who cultivate this art, it is called aljabraand alboret; though the name of the author himself is not
known." The uncertain authority of these statements, and the plausibility of the preceding explanation, have
caused philologists to accept the derivation from al and jabara. Robert Recorde in his Whetstone of Witte (1557)
uses the variant algeber, while John Dee (1527-1608) affirms that algiebar,and not algebra, is the correct form,
and appeals to the authority of the Arabian Avicenna.
Although the term "algebra" is now in universal use, various other appellations were used by the Italian
mathematicians during the Renaissance. Thus we find Paciolus calling itl'Arte Magiore; ditta dal vulgo la
Regula de la Cosa over Alghebra e Almucabala. The name l'arte magiore, the greater art, is designed to
distinguish it from l'arte minore, the lesser art, a term which he applied to the modern arithmetic. His second
variant, la regula de la cosa, the rule of the thing or unknown quantity, appears to have been in common use in
Italy, and the word cosa was preserved for several centuries in the forms coss or algebra, cossic or algebraic,
cossist or algebraist, &c. Other Italian writers termed it theRegula rei et census, the rule of the thing and the
product, or the root and the square. The principle underlying this expression is probably to be found in the fact
that it measured the limits of their attainments in algebra, for they were unable to solve equations of a higher
degree than the quadratic or square.
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Franciscus Vieta (Francois Viete) named it Specious Arithmetic, on account of the species of the quantities
involved, which he represented symbolically by the various letters of the alphabet. Sir Isaac Newton introduced
the term Universal Arithmetic, since it is concerned with the doctrine of operations, not affected on numbers,
but on general symbols.
Notwithstanding these and other idiosyncratic appellations, European mathematicians have adhered to the older
name, by which the subject is now universally known.
It is difficult to assign the invention of any art or science definitely to any particular age or race. The few
fragmentary records, which have come down to us from past civilizations, must not be regarded as representing
the totality of their knowledge, and the omission of a science or art does not necessarily imply that the science
or art was unknown. It was formerly the custom to assign the invention of algebra to the Greeks, but since the
decipherment of the Rhind papyrus by Eisenlohr this view has changed, for in this work there are distinct signs
of an algebraic analysis. The particular problem---a heap (hau) and its seventh makes 19---is solved as we
should now solve a simple equation; but Ahmes varies his methods in other similar problems. This discovery
carries the invention of algebra back to about 1700 B.C., if not earlier.
It is probable that the algebra of the Egyptians was of a most rudimentary nature, for otherwise we should
expect to find traces of it in the works of the Greek aeometers. of whom Thales of Miletus (640-546 B.C.) was
the first. Notwithstanding the prolixity of writers and the number of the writings, all attempts at extracting an
algebraic analysis from their geometrical theorems and problems have been fruitless, and it is generally
conceded that their analysis was geometrical and had little or no affinity to algebra. The first extant work which
approaches to a treatise on algebra is by Diophantus (q.v.), an Alexandrian mathematician, who flourished about
A.D. 350. The original, which consisted of a preface and thirteen books, is now lost, but we have a Latin
translation of the first six books and a fragment of another on polygonal numbers by Xylander of Augsburg
(1575), and Latin and Greek translations by Gaspar Bachet de Merizac (1621-1670). Other editions have been
published, of which we may mention Pierre Fermat's (1670), T. L. Heath's (1885) and P. Tannery's (1893-1895).
In the preface to this work, which is dedicated to one Dionysius, Diophantus explains his notation, naming the
square, cube and fourth powers, dynamis, cubus, dynamodinimus, and so on, according to the sum in the
indices. The unknown he terms arithmos, the number, and in solutions he marks it by the final s; he explains the
generation of powers, the rules for multiplication and division of simple quantities, but he does not treat of the
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of compound quantities. He then proceeds to discuss various
artifices for the simplification of equations, giving methods which are still in common use. In the body of the
work he displays considerable ingenuity in reducing his problems to simple equations, which admit either of
direct solution, or fall into the class known as indeterminate equations. This latter class he discussed so
assiduously that they are often known as Diophantine problems, and the methods of resolving them as the
Diophantine analysis (see EQUATION, Indeterminate.) It is difficult to believe that this work of Diophantus
arose spontaneously in a period of general stagnation. It is more than likely that he was indebted to earlier
writers, whom he omits to mention, and whose works are now lost; nevertheless, but for this work, we should
be led to assume that algebra was almost, if not entirely, unknown to the Greeks.
The Romans, who succeeded the Greeks as the chief civilized power in Europe, failed to set store on their
literary and scientific treasures; mathematics was all but neglected; and beyond a few improvements in
arithmetical computations, there are no material advances to be recorded.
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In the chronological development of our subject we have now to turn to the Orient. Investigation of the writings
of Indian mathematicians has exhibited a fundamental distinction between the Greek and Indian mind, the
former being pre-eminently geometrical and speculative, the latter arithmetical and mainly practical. We find
that geometry was neglected except in so far as it was of service to astronomy; trigonometry was advanced, and
algebra improved far beyond the attainments of Diophantus.
The earliest Indian mathematician of whom we have certain knowledge is Aryabhatta, who flourished about the
beginning of the 6th century of our era. The fame of this astronomer and mathematician rests on his work,
the Aryabhattiyam, the third chapter of which is devoted to mathematics. Ganessa, an eminent astronomer,
mathematician and scholiast of Bhaskara, quotes this work and makes separate mention of
the cuttaca ("pulveriser"), a device for effecting the solution of indeterminate equations. Henry Thomas
Colebrooke, one of the earliest modern investigators of Hindu science, presumes that the treatise of Aryabhatta
extended to determinate quadratic equations, indeterminate equations of the first degree, and probably of the
second. An astronomical work, called the Surya-siddhanta ("knowledge of the Sun"), of uncertain authorship
and probably belonging to the 4th or 5th century, was considered of great merit by the Hindus, who ranked it
only second to the work of Brahmagupta, who flourished about a century later. It is of great interest to the
historical student, for it exhibits the influence of Greek science upon Indian mathematics at a period prior to
Aryabhatta. After an interval of about a century, during which mathematics attained its highest level, there
flourished Brahmagupta (b. A.D. 598), whose work entitled Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta ("The revised system of
Brahma") contains several chapters devoted to mathematics. Of other Indian writers mention may be made of
Cridhara, the author of a Ganita-sara ("Quintessence of Calculation"), and Padmanabha, the author of an
algebra.
A period of mathematical stagnation then appears to have possessed the Indian mind for an interval of several
centuries, for the works of the next author of any moment stand but little in advance of Brahmagupta. We refer
to Bhaskara Acarya, whose work theSiddhanta-ciromani ("Diadem of anastronomical System"), written in 1150,
contains two important chapters, the Lilavati ("the beautiful [science or art]") and Viga-ganita ("rootextraction"), which are given up to arithmetic and algebra.
English translations of the mathematical chapters of the Brahma-siddhanta andSiddhanta-ciromani by H. T.
Colebrooke (1817), and of the Surya-siddhanta by E. Burgess, with annotations by W. D. Whitney (1860), may
be consulted for details.
The question as to whether the Greeks borrowed their algebra from the Hindus or vice versa has been the
subject of much discussion. There is no doubt that there was a constant traffic between Greece and India, and it
is more than probable that an exchange of produce would be accompanied by a transference of ideas. Moritz
Cantor suspects the influence of Diophantine methods, more particularly in the Hindu solutions of
indeterminate equations, where certain technical terms are, in all probability, of Greek origin. However this may
be, it is certain that the Hindu algebraists were far in advance of Diophantus. The deficiencies of the Greek
symbolism were partially remedied; subtraction was denoted by placing a dot over the subtrahend;
multiplication, by placing bha (an abbreviation of bhavita, the "product") after the factom; division, by placing
the divisor under the dividend; and square root, by inserting ka (an abbreviation of karana, irrational) before the
quantity. The unknown was called yavattavat, and if there were several, the first took this appellation, and the
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others were designated by the names of colours; for instance, x was denoted by ya and y by ka
(from kalaka, black).

A notable improvement on the ideas of Diophantus is to be found in the fact that the Hindus recognized the
existence of two roots of a quadratic equation, but the negative roots were considered to be inadequate, since no
interpretation could be found for them. It is also supposed that they anticipated discoveries of the solutions of
higher equations. Great advances were made in the study of indeterminate equations, a branch of analysis in
which Diophantus excelled. But whereas Diophantus aimed at obtaining a single solution, the Hindus strove for
a general method by which any indeterminate problem could be resolved. In this they were completely
successful, for they obtained general solutions for the equations ax(+ or -)by=c, xy=ax+by+c (since
rediscovered by Leonhard Euler) and cy2=ax2+b. A particular case of the last equation, namely, y2=ax2+1,
sorely taxed the resources of modern algebraists. It was proposed by Pierre de Fermat to Bernhard Frenicle de
Bessy, and in 1657 to all mathematicians. John Wallis and Lord Brounker jointly obtained a tedious solution
which was published in 1658, and afterwards in 1668 by John Pell in his Algebra. A solution was also given by
Fermat in his Relation. Although Pell had nothing to do with the solution, posterity has termed the equation
Pell's Equation, or Problem, when more rightly it should be the Hindu Problem, in recognition of the
mathematical attainments of the Brahmans.
Hermann Hankel has pointed out the readiness with which the Hindus passed from number to magnitude and
vice versa. Although this transition from the discontinuous to continuous is not truly scientific, yet it materially
augmented the development of algebra, and Hankel affirms that if we define algebra as the application of
arithmetical operations to both rational and irrational numbers or magnitudes, then the Brahmans are the real
inventors of algebra.
The integration of the scattered tribes of Arabia in the 7th century by the stirring religious propaganda of
Mahomet was accompanied by a meteoric rise in the intellectual powers of a hitherto obscure race. The Arabs
became the custodians of Indian and Greek science, whilst Europe was rent by internal dissensions. Under the
rule of the Abbasids, Bagdad became the centre of scientific thought; physicians and astronomers from India
and Syria flocked to their court; Greek and Indian manuscripts were translated (a work commenced by the
Caliph Mamun (813-833) and ably continued by his successors); and in about a century the Arabs were placed
in possession of the vast stores of Greek and Indian learning. Euclid's Elements were first translated in the reign
of Harun-al-Rashid (786-809), and revised by the order of Mamun. But these translations were regarded as
imperfect, and it remained for Tobit ben Korra (836-901) to produce a satisfactory edition.
Ptolemy'sAlmagest, the works of Apollonius, Archimedes, Diophantus and portions of the Brahmasiddhanta,
were also translated. The first notable Arabian mathematician was Mahommed ben Musa al-Khwarizmi, who
flourished in the reign of Mamun. His treatise on algebra and arithmetic (the latter part of which is only extant
in the form of a Latin translation, discovered in 1857) contains nothing that was unknown to the Greeks and
Hindus; it exhibits methods allied to those of both races, with the Greek element predominating. The part
devoted to algebra has the title al-jeur wa'lmuqabala, and the arithmetic begins with "Spoken has Algoritmi,"
the name Khwarizmi or Hovarezmi having passed into the word Algoritmi, which has been further transformed
into the more modern words algorism and algorithm, signifying a method of computing.
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Tobit ben Korra (836-901), born at Harran in Mesopotamia, an accomplished linguist, mathematician and
astronomer, rendered conspicuous service by his translations of various Greek authors. His investigation of the
properties of amicable numbers (q.v.) and of the problem of trisecting an angle, are of importance. The Arabians
more closely resembled the Hindus than the Greeks in the choice of studies; their philosophers blended
speculative dissertations with the more progressive study of medicine; their mathematicians neglected the
subtleties of the conic sections and Diophantine analysis, and applied themselves more particularly to perfect
the system of numerals (see NUMERAL), arithmetic and astronomy (q.v..) It thus came about that while some
progress was made in algebra, the talents of the race were bestowed on astronomy and trigonometry (q.v..) Fahri
des al Karbi, who flourished about the beginning of the 11th century, is the author of the most important
Arabian work on algebra. He follows the methods of Diophantus; his work on indeterminate equations has no
resemblance to the Indian methods, and contains nothing that cannot be gathered from Diophantus. He solved
quadratic equations both geometrically and algebraically, and also equations of the form x2n+axn+b=0; he also
proved certain relations between the sum of the first n natural numbers, and the sums of their squares and cubes.
Cubic equations were solved geometrically by determining the intersections of conic sections. Archimedes'
problem of dividing a sphere by a plane into two segments having a prescribed ratio, was first expressed as a
cubic equation by Al Mahani, and the first solution was given by Abu Gafar al Hazin. The determination of the
side of a regular heptagon which can be inscribed or circumscribed to a given circle was reduced to a more
complicated equation which was first successfully resolved by Abul Gud. The method of solving equations
geometrically was considerably developed by Omar Khayyam of Khorassan, who flourished in the 11th century.
This author questioned the possibility of solving cubics by pure algebra, and biquadratics by geometry. His first
contention was not disproved until the 15th century, but his second was disposed of by Abul Weta (940-908),
who succeeded in solving the forms x4=a and x4+ax3=b.
Although the foundations of the geometrical resolution of cubic equations are to be ascribed to the Greeks (for
Eutocius assigns to Menaechmus two methods of solving the equation x3=a and x3=2a3), yet the subsequent
development by the Arabs must be regarded as one of their most important achievements. The Greeks had
succeeded in solving an isolated example; the Arabs accomplished the general solution of numerical equations.
Considerable attention has been directed to the different styles in which the Arabian authors have treated their
subject. Moritz Cantor has suggested that at one time there existed two schools, one in sympathy With the
Greeks, the other with the Hindus; and that, although the writings of the latter were first studied, they were
rapidly discarded for the more perspicuous Grecian methods, so that, among the later Arabian writers, the
Indian methods were practically forgotten and their mathematics became essentially Greek in character.
Turning to the Arabs in the West we find the same enlightened spirit; Cordova, the capital of the Moorish
empire in Spain, was as much a centre of learning as Bagdad. The earliest known Spanish mathematician is Al
Madshritti (d. 1007), whose fame rests on a dissertation on amicable numbers, and on the schools which were
founded by his pupils at Cordoya, Dama and Granada. Gabir ben Allah of Sevilla, commonly called Geber, was
a celebrated astronomer and apparently skilled in algebra, for it has been supposed that the word "algebra" is
compounded from his name.
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When the Moorish empire began to wane the brilliant intellectual gifts which they had so abundantly nourished
during three or four centuries became enfeebled, and after that period they failed to produce an author
comparable with those of the 7th to the 11th centuries.
In Europe the decline of Rome was succeeded by a period, lasting several centuries, during which the sciences
and arts were all but neglected. Political and ecclesiastical dissensions occupied the greatest intellects, and the
only progress to be recorded is in the art of computing or arithmetic, and the translation of Arabic manuscripts.
The first successful attempt to revive the study of algebra in Christendom was due to Leonardo of Pisa, an
Italian merchant trading in the Mediterranean. His travels and mercantile experience had led him to conclude
that the Hindu methods of computing were in advance of those then in general use, and in 1202 he published his
Liber Abaci, which treats of both algebra and arithmetic. In this work, which is of great historical interest, since
it was published about two centuries before the art of printing was discovered, he adopts the Arabic notation for
numbers, and solves many problems, both arithmetical and algebraical. But it contains little that is original, and
although the work created a great sensation when it was first published, the effect soon passed away, and the
book was practically forgotten. Mathematics was more or less ousted from the academic curricula by the
philosophical inquiries of the schoolmen, and it was only after an interval of nearly three centuries that a worthy
successor to Leonardo appeared. This was Lucas Paciolus (Lucas de Burgo), a Minorite friar, who, having
previously written works on algebra, arithmetic and geometry, published, in 1494, his principal work,
entitled Summa de Arithmetica, Giometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita. In it he mentions many earlier
writers from whom he had learnt the science, and although it contains very little that cannot be found in
Leonardo's work, yet it is especially noteworthy for the systematic employment of symbols, and the manner in
which it reflects the state of mathematics in Europe during this period. These works are the earliest printed
books on mathematics. The renaissance of mathematics was thus effected in Italy, and it is to that country that
the leading developments of the following century were due. The first difficulty to be overcome was the
algebraical solution of cubic equations, the pons asinorum of the earlier mathematicians. The first step in this
direction was made by Scipio Ferro (d. 1526), who solved the equation x3+ax=b. Of his discovery we know
nothing except that he declared it to his pupil Antonio Marie Floridas. An imperfect solution of the equation
x3+px2=q was discovered by Nicholas Tartalea (Tartaglia) in 1530, and his pride in this achievement led him
into conflict with Floridas, who proclaimed his own knowledge of the form resolved by Ferro. Mutual
recriminations led to a public discussion in 1535, when Tartalea completely vindicated the general applicability
of his methods and exhibited the inefficiencies of that of Floridas. This contest over, Tartalea redoubled his
attempts to generalize his methods, and by 1541 he possessed the means for solving any form of cubic equation.
His discoveries had made him famous all over Italy, and he was earnestly solicited to publish his methods; but
he abstained from doing so, saying that he intended to embody them in a treatise on algebra which he was
preparing. At last he succumbed to the repeated requests of Girolamo or Geronimo Cardano, who swore that he
would regard them as an inviolable secret. Cardan or Cardano, who was at that time writing his great work,
the Ars Magna, could not restrain the temptation of crowning his treatise with such important discoveries, and
in 1545 he broke his oath and gave to the world Tartalea's rules for solving cubic equations. Tartalea, thus
robbed of his most cherished possession, was in despair. Recriminations ensued until his death in 1557, and
although he sustained his claim for priority, posterity has not conceded to him the honour of his discovery, for
his solution is now known as Cardan's Rule.
Cubic equations having been solved, biquadratics soon followed suit. As early as 1539 Cardan had solved
certain particular cases, but it remained for his pupil, Lewis (Ludovici) Ferrari, to devise a general method. His
solution, which is sometimes erroneously ascribed to Rafael Bombelh, was published in the Ars Magna. In this
work, which is one of the most valuable contributions to the literature of algebra, Cardan shows that he was
familiar with both real positive and negative roots of equations whether rational or irrational, but of imaginary
roots he was quite ignorant, and he admits his inability to resolve the so-called "irreducible case" (see
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EQUATION.) Fundamental theorems in the theory of equations are to be found in the same work. Clearer ideas
of imaginary quantities and the "irreducible case" were subsequently published by Bombelli, in a work of which
the dedication is dated 1572, though the book was not published until 1579.
Contemporaneously with the remarkable discoveries of the Italian mathematicians, algebra was increasing in
popularity in Germany, France and England. Michael Stifel and Johann Scheubelius (Scheybl) (1494-1570)
flourished in Germany, and although unacquainted with the work of Cardan and Tartalea, their writings are
noteworthy for their perspicuity and the introduction of a more complete symbolism for quantities and
operations. Stifel introduced the sign (+) for addition or a positive quantity, which was previously denoted by
plus, piu, or the letter p. Subtraction, previously written as minus, mone or the letter m, was symbolized by the
sign (-) which is still in use. The square root he denoted by (sqrt. ), whereas Paciolus, Cardan and others used
the letter R.
The first treatise on algebra written in English was by Robert Recorde, who published his arithmetic in 1552,
and his algebra entitled The Whetstone of Witte, which is the second part of Arithmetik, in 1557. This work,
which is written in the form of a dialogue, closely resembles the works of Stifel and Scheubelius, the latter of
whom he often quotes. It includes the properties of numbers; extraction of roots of arithmetical and algebraical
quantities, solutions of simple and quadratic equations, and a fairly complete account of surds. He introduced
the sign (=) for equality, and the terms binomial and residual. Of other writers who published works about the
end of the 16th century, we may mention Jacques Peletier, or Jacobus Peletarius (De occulta parto Numerorum,
quare Algebram vocant, 1558); Petrus Ramus (Arithmeticae Libri duo et totidem Algebrae, 1560), and
Christoph Clavius, who wrote on algebra in 1580, though it was not published until 1608. At this time also
flourished Simon Stevinus (Stevin) of Bruges, who published an arithmetic in 1585 and an algebra shortly
afterwards. These works possess considerable originality, and contain many new improvements in algebraic
notation; the unknown (res) is denoted by a small circle, in which he places an integer corresponding to the
power. He introduced the terms multinomial, trinomial, quadrinomial, &c., and considerably simplified the
notation for decimals.
About the beginning of the 17th century various mathematical works by Franciscus Vieta were published, which
were afterwards collected by Franz van Schooten and republished in 1646 at Leiden. These works exhibit great
originality and mark an important epoch in the history of algebra. Vieta, who does not avail himself of the
discoveries of his predecessors--the negative roots of Cardan, the revised notation of Stifel and Stevin, &c.-introduced or popularized many new terms and symbols, some of which are still in use. He denotes quantities
by the letters of the alphabet, retaining the vowels for the unknown and the consonants for the knowns; he
introduced the vinculum and among others the termscoefficient, affirmative, negative, pure and adjected
equations. He improved the methods for solving equations, and devised geometrical constructions with the aid
of the conic sections. His method for determining approximate values of the roots of equations is far in advance
of the Hindu method as applied by Cardan, and is identical in principle with the methods of Sir Isaac Newton
and W. G. Horner.

We have next to consider the works of Albert Girard, a Flemish mathematician. This writer, after having
published an edition of Stevin's works in 1625, published in 1629 at Amsterdam a small tract on algebra which
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shows a considerable advance on the work of Vieta. Girard is inconsistent in his notation, sometimes following
Vieta, sometimes Stevin; he introduced the new symbols ff. for greater than and sec. for less than; he follows
Vieta in using the plus (+) for addition, he denotes subtraction by Recorde's symbol for equality (=), and he had
no sign for equality but wrote the word out. He possessed clear ideas of indices and the generation of powers, of
the negative roots of equations and their geometrical interpretation, and was the first to use the term imaginary
roots. He also discovered how to sum the powers of the roots of an equation.
Passing over the invention of logarithms (q.v.) by John Napier, and their development by Henry Briggs and
others, the next author of moment was an Englishman, Thomas Harriot, whose algebra (Artis analyticae praxis)
was published posthumously by Walter Warner in 1631. Its great merit consists in the complete notation and
symbolism, which avoided the cumbersome expressions of the earlier algebraists, and reduced the art to a form
closely resembling that of to-day. He follows Vieta in assigning the vowels to the unknown quantities and the
consonants to the knowns, but instead of using capitals, as with Vieta, he employed the small letters; equality he
denoted by Recorde's symbol, and he introduced the signs > and < for greater than and less than. His principal
discovery is concerned with equations, which he showed to be derived from the continued multiplication of as
many simple factors as the highest power of the unknown, and he was thus enabled to deduce relations between
the coefficients and various functions of the roots. Mention may also be made of his chapter on inequalities, in
which he proves that the arithmetic mean is always greater than the geometric mean.
William Oughtred, a contemporary of Harriot, published an algebra, Clavis mathematicae, simultaneously with
Harriot's treatise. His notation is based on that of Vieta, but he introduced the sign X for multiplication, @ for
continued proportion, :: for proportion, and denoted ratio by one dot. This last character has since been entirely
restricted to multiplication, and ratio is now denoted by two dots (:). His symbols for greater than and less than
(@ and @) have been completely superseded by Harriot's signs.
So far the development of algebra and geometry had been mutually independent, except for a few isolated
applications of geometrical constructions to the solution of algebraical problems. Certain minds had long
suspected the advantages which would accrue from the unrestricted application of algebra to geometry, but it
was not until the advent of the philosopher Rene Descartes that the co-ordination was effected. In his famous
Geometria (1637), which is really a treatise on the algebraic representation of geometric theorems, he founded
the modern theory of analytical geometry (see GEOMETRY), and at the same time he rendered signal service to
algebra, more especially in the theory of equations. His notation is based primarily on that of Harriot; but he
differs from that writer in retaining the first letters of the alphabet for the known quantities and the final letters
for the unknowns.
The 17th century is a famous epoch in the progress of science, and the mathematics in no way lagged behind.
The discoveries of Johann Kepler and Bonaventura Cavalieri were the foundation upon which Sir Isaac Newton
and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz erected that wonderful edifice, the Infinitesimal Calculus (q.v..) Many new
fields were opened up, but there was still continual progress in pure algebra. Continued fractions, one of the
earliest examples of which is Lord Brouncker's expression for the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a
circle (see CIRCLE), were elaborately discussed by John Wallis and Leonhard Euler; the convergency of series
treated by Newton, Euler and the Bernoullis; the binomial theorem, due originally to Newton and subsequently
expanded by Euler and others, was used by Joseph Louis Lagrange as the basis of his Calcul des
Fonctions.Diophantine problems were revived by Gaspar Bachet, Pierre Fermat and Euler; the modern theory of
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numbers was founded by Fermat and developed by Euler, Lagrange and others; and the theory of probability
was attacked by Blaise Pascal and Fermat, their work being subsequently expanded by James Bernoulli,
Abraham de Moivre, Pierre Simon Laplace and others. The germs of the theory of determinants are to be found
in the works of Leibnitz; Etienne Bezout utilized them in 1764 for expressing the result obtained by the process
of elimination known by his name, and since restated by Arthur Cayley.
In recent times many mathematicians have formulated other kinds of algebras, in which the operators do not
obey the laws of ordinary algebra. This study was inaugurated by George Peacock, who was one of the earliest
mathematicians to recognize the symbolic character of the fundamental principles of algebra. About the same
time, D. F. Gregory published a paper "on the real nature of symbolical algebra." In Germany the work of
Martin Ohm (System der Mathematik, 1822) marks a step forward. Notable service was also rendered by
Augustus de Morgan, who applied logical analysis to the laws of mathematics.
The geometrical interpretation of imaginary quantities had a far-reaching influence on the development of
symbolic algebras. The attempts to elucidate this question by H. Kuhn (1750-1751) and Jean Robert Argand
(1806) were completed by Karl Friedrich Gauss, and the formulation of various systems of vector analysis by
Sir William Rowan Hamilton, Hermann Grassmann and others, followed. These algebras were essentially
geometrical, and it remained, more or less, for the American mathematician Benjamin Peirce to devise systems
of pure symbolic algebras; in this work he was ably seconded by his son Charles S. Peirce. In England, multiple
algebra was developed by James Joseph Sylvester, who, in company with Arthur Cayley, expanded the theory of
matrices, the germs of which are to be found in the writings of Hamilton (see above, under (B); and
QUATERNIONS.)
The preceding summary shows the specialized nature which algebra has assumed since the 17th century. To
attempt a history of the development of the various topics in this article is inappropriate, and we refer the reader
to the separate articles.
REFERENCES.---The history of algebra is treated in all historical works on mathematics in general (see
MATHEMATICS: References.) Greek algebra can be specially studied in T. L. Heath's Diophantus. See also
John Wallis, Opera Mathematica (1693-1699), and Charles Sutton, Mathematical and Philosophical
Dictionary (1815),
article
"Algebra."
(C.
E.*)

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