HPS391H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Albert Girard, Quadratic Equation, Multiplication Table
29 Apr 2016
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Bombelli was one of the first people to find out about complex numbers. Albert girard stated that an equation of degree n has n roots. This further helped support the theorem of complex roots. Bombelli formulated the three operations for complex numbers. Bombelli first mentioned complex solutions in a quadratic equation. He stated that if (1/2 * a) ^ 2 < b in the equation x^2 + b = ax, then an impossible problem occurs . This is where he thought of the idea of complex roots. He gave an example with x^2 + 20 = 8x and a root was 4 +/- 2(sqrt(-1)) Euler also contributed to the works of complex variables and came up with the idea of using i for the sqrt (-1). The first to have presented the complex plane explicitly is henri truel. Wessel was also a important figure in complex numbers.
