This book provides a unique perspective on the history of European
algebra up to the advent of Viète and Descartes. The standard version
of this history is written on the basis of a narrow and misleading
source basis: the Latin translations of al-Khwārizmī, Fibonacci's
Liber abbaci, Luca Pacioli's Summa, Cardano's Ars magna—with neither
Fibonacci nor Pacioli being read in detail. The existence of the
Italian abacus and German cossic algebra is at most taken note of but
they are not read, leading to the idea that Viète's and Descartes'
use of genuine symbolism (not only abbreviations), many unknowns, and
abstract coefficients seem to be miraculous leaps. This book traces
the meandering development of all these techniques along with the
mostly ignored but very important parenthesis function, by means of
detailed readings of all pertinent sources, including the abacus and
cossic algebra and French algebra from Chuquet to Gosselin. It argues
for a necessary distinction between abbreviating glyphs and genuine
symbols serving within a symbolic syntax, which allows it to trace the
emergence of symbolic calculation. Characterization of the
mathematical practice of the environment within which Viète and
Descartes moved allows for an explanation of how these two figures did
not even need to invent abstract coefficients but rather received them
as a gift.
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The Innovative Techniques That Brought About Modern Algebra
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9783031481581
Publisert
2024
Utgiver
Vendor
Springer
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter