MATHEMATICIAN

Work
Diophantus is known as the father of algebra. His work represented a landmark in mathematical thinking, and was extremely influential in Renaissance Europe. He was the first to use an algebraic notation. His principal writings are:

"On arithmetic": 13 books, of which 6 survive in the Greek original and 4 in an Arabic translation discovered in 1970. "On arithmetic" is a varied collection of problems involving polynomial equations with one or more variables. His solutions make use of a number of methods and calculations of powers.

"On polygonal numbers": Fragments only.

"Porismata": Lost.

"Diophantine equations": Equations involving only addition, multiplication or exponential powers in which all the constants are natural numbers or their negatives and the only solutions of interest are natural numbers or their negatives. Named in honour of Diophantus, these were not solved systematically until the 7th century by the Hindus.

17th century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat made a thorough study of the work of Diophantus from a Latin translation. "Fermat's equation": x2- Dy2 =1 is nothing more than the equation Diophantus had formulated 14 centuries earlier.