"Many scholars go right through the period of their mathematical education without being introduced to indeterminate (Diophantine) problems. This should seem somewhat strange to us when we reflect on how many real problems of life require solutions which are meaningless unless they are whole numbers. The absence of Diophantine analysis from school curricula is difficult to justify. The methods... are not beyond the capabilities of schoolchildren. It is true that the problems often involve tedious calculations, but this should not be used as an excuse for ignoring the valuable principles of this analysis. Diophantus himself was usually content with finding just one solution... But once one solution has been obtained, the general solution can readily be obtained from it."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Graham Flegg, Numbers: Their History and Meaning (1983)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Diophantus
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Diophantus
Diophantus of Alexandria (c. 201 - 285 AD) sometimes called "the father of algebra", was an Alexandrian Greek mathematician and the author of a series of books called Arithmetica (c. 250 AD), many of which are now lost. Diophantus was the first Greek mathematician who recognized fractions as numbers, thus allowed positive rational numbers for the coefficients and solutions.
45 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Diophantus →
Related Quotes
"If we arrive at an equation containing on each side the same term but with different coefficients, we must take equal…"
"As a square number is known to be the product of a number multiplied by itself, so every polygonal number, multiplied…"
"The solution in integers, or in rational numbers, of indeterminate equations belongs to diophantine analysis. The nam…"
"This work of Diaphantus... was the first Greek mathematics, if indeed it was Greek, to show a genuine talent for alge…"
"I have decided first to consider the majority of the authors who up to now have written about [algebra], so that I ca…"
"Admitting the Hindu and Alexandrian authors [such as Diophantus], to be nearly equally ancient, it must be conceded i…"
"If his works were not written in Greek, no one would think for a moment that they were the product of Greek mind. The…"
"In this work [Arithmetica] is introduced the idea of an algebraic equation expressed in algebraic symbols. His treatm…"
"He appears to be the first who could perform such operations as (x - 1) \times (x - 2) without reference to geometry.…"
"Perhaps the topic [of this book] will appear fairly difficult to you because it is not yet familiar knowledge and the…"