A discourse concerning algebra : English algebra to 1685 / Jacqueline A. Stedall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stedall, Jacqueline.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Algebra--England--History.

Algebra.

History.

England.

Physical Description:

xii, 294 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.

Contents:

1 A large discourse concerning algebra 1

English mathematics before 1649 5

A treatise of algebra 8

2 How algebra was entertained and cultivated in Europe 19

'In Arabic it is called al-jabr' 35

'The Italians have given it the name of Regula cosae' 36

'Cardan gives it the name of Ars magna' 45

'What we commonly call algebra is by a Greek name called Analysis' 50

Wallis's account of early algebra 52

3 Ariadne's thread: William Oughtred's Clavis 55

The first edition: 1631 59

The second editions: 1647 and 1648 65

The third edition: 1652 68

The fourth edition: 1667 73

Wallis and the Clavis 77

The final editions: 1693 onwards 82

4 Rob'd of glories: Thomas Harriot and his Treatise on equations 88

The Treatise on equations 94

Harriot's Will and the writing of the Praxis 97

The contents of the Praxis 100

The Corrector and the Summary 107

The fate of Harriot's material after 1631 111

Wallis's account of Harriot's algebra 117

5 Moving the Alps: uncovering the mathematics of John Pell 126

An introduction to algebra 135

Pell and Wallis 139

6 Reading between the lines: John Wallis's Arithmetica infinitorum 155

Squaring the circle 156

Praise and criticism 165

The enlargement of the mathematical empire 173

7 Catching Proteus: the mathematics of William Brouncker 183

Squaring the hyperbola and the circle 185

The challenges from Fermat 196

8 'Many pretty things worth looking into' 208

Wallis's perspective on algebra 212

Wallis's perspective on history 215.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-287) and index.

ISBN:

0198524951

OCLC:

50280062