Mathematician:Diophantus of Alexandria

Mathematician

Mathematician living in Alexandria, Egypt, about whom very little is known.

Author of a series of books called Arithmetica, some of which are now lost, concerning the solution of algebraic equations.

Sometimes referred to as "the father of algebra", but some claim the title should belong to Al-Khwarizmi.

Nationality

Egyptian, probably a Hellenized Babylonian

History

• Born: between 200 and 214 CE (location unknown)
• Died: between 284 and 298 CE

Theorems and Definitions

• Diophantine Analysis
• Diophantine Equations
• Diophantine Problem
• Diophantine $m$-Tuple

• Diophantus's Identity (also known as Brahmagupta-Fibonacci Identity)

Results named for Diophantus of Alexandria can be found here.

Definitions of concepts named for Diophantus of Alexandria can be found here.

Publications

• Arithmetica (13 books, of which 6 have survived (some say 10))

• On Polygonal Numbers (only fragments now exist)
• Porisms (may have originally been part of Arithmetica)

Critical View

I came to believe that in Arithmetic and Logistic, "I was Somebody". And in fact by not a few, among them some true scholars, I was adjudged an Arithmetician beyond the common order. But when I first came upon the work of Diophantos, his method and his reasoning so overwhelmed me that I scarcely knew whether to think of my former self with pity or with laughter.

-- Wilhelm Xylander

-- Introduction to his translation of the Arithmetica of Diophantus

Also known as

Some sources render his name as Diophantos.

Also see

• Epitaph of Diophantus

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Diophantus of Alexandria": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1948: Oystein Ore: Number Theory and its History
• 1980: David M. Burton: Elementary Number Theory (revised ed.) ... (next): Chapter $2$: Divisibility Theory in the Integers: $2.4$ The Diophantine Equation $a x + b y = c$
• 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
• 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $84$
• 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {A}.9$: Hypatia (A.D. $\text {370?}$ – $\text {415}$)
• 1992: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): The First Pure Number Puzzles
• 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): A List of Mathematicians in Chronological Sequence
• 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $84$
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Diophantus of Alexandria (c. ad 260)
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Diophantus of Alexandria (c. ad 260)
• 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $3$: Notations and Numbers: Negative numbers
• 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $7$: Patterns in Numbers: Diophantus
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Diophantus of Alexandria (about ad 250)