Subject: Re: [MATHEDCC] square root of -1 history
From: George Dorner (gdorner@harper.cc.il.us)
Date: Mon Jan 24 2000 - 15:48:33 EST
>
> >1. Does anyone know what mathematicians first studied the square root of -1
> >and when it was first called an imaginary number?
> >
> >Martha
>
Edna Kramer, probably quoting Neugebauer, says about Rafael Bombelli (born c. 1530):
He elevated sqrt(-1) to the rank of a "number" and defined arithmetic
operations on sqrt(-1), sqrt(-2), sqrt(-3), ..., and all even roots of
negative numbers. He stated that such symbols represent 'imaginary' numbers, a
derogatory term on a par with those other descriptions, irrational and negative.
Edna Kramer, The nature and Growth of Modern Mathematics.
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