Talk:Diophantus

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The page says:

The answer is determined from two methods: 1. Finding the common multiple of 12, 6, and 7 (which is 84). 2. Taking 14 (the age up to which would be considered a boy; one-sixth of his life) multiplied by 6, which equals 84.

The first method doesn't seem to make sense. It doesn't include, for instance, the information that he died four years before his son, which affects the answer.

The second method relies on knowledge that 14 is an important age in Hellenistic cultures, which isn't necessary.

The reference correctly shows how this problem is solved.

Contents 1 Reverted to more accepted statement 2 "the fully symbolic algebra that al-Khwarizmi would develop much later." 3 rewrite 4 Contradiction 5 "Diophantus got the first knowledge of algebra from India" 6 Dating of the 'Dark Ages'

[edit] Reverted to more accepted statement

The documentary sources cited in this article refer to Diophantus as an ancient Greek Mathemetician. Alledging he was of Babylonian birth or not Greek is not supported.

[edit] "the fully symbolic algebra that al-Khwarizmi would develop much later."

This is not true, al-Khwarizmi's algebra was fully rhetorical, even the numbers were spelled out! I have inserted a direct quote from "A history of mathematics" by Carl B Boyer into the article (with reference) and have removed the factually incorrect statement. self 06:10, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] rewrite

I am working on a major rewrite of the article. I would like to ask people not to make (large) edits in the next couple of days as it could conflict with my rewrite. Thank you. S Sepp 23:04, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Rewrite complete. S Sepp 22:50, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Contradiction

Diophantus and the Arithmetica were lost in Europe for about 1500 year, says the article. Then it later says, Byzantine mathematician Maximus Planudes has written "Thy soul, Diophantus, be with Satan because of the difficulty of your theorems". So which is it? How would the medieval Planudes know about Diophantus' theories if they were lost in Europe? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rwflammang (talk • contribs) 19:33, 24 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] "Diophantus got the first knowledge of algebra from India"

The line:

"According to some historians of mathematics, like Florian Cajori, Diophantus got the first knowledge of algebra from India"

has three references to it. One of the references says nothing of the sort and so I have removed it as a reference. Furthermore the reference that I have removed,

"Heeffer, Albrecht, The Reception of Ancient Indian Mathematics by Western Historians, Ghent University, Belgium."

explicitly says on page 16 that,

"The origin of the algebra of Diophantus still needs an explanation, but it is very doubtful that it is to be found in Pythagoras."

So one of the references for the statement that says that Diophantus' algebra came from India actually says that the origin is unknown! So I am adding the sentence "although other historians disagree." and using the above scholarly paper as a reference.

I will try to confirm the other two references. It would be appreciated if the user who added those two references would write the relevant direct quotations from those sources. _selfworm_ ^{( Give me a piece of your mind · Userboxes · Contribs )_} 04:32, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

The other two references are also inaccurate. The reference "Notes on Indian Mathematics. A Criticism of George Rusby Kaye's Interpretation" does not even mention Diophantus (this work can be read at JSTOR). And the only sentence in the second reference, "Florian Cajori, A History of Elementary Mathematics, 1898", that makes any mention of Diophantus and Indian mathematics is the following:

Frequently he follows a method resembling somewhat the Hindu "false position"; a preliminary value is [...] (page 36)

But this is a far cry from "Diophantus got the first knowledge of algebra from India". Indeed, this sentence does not make any mention, implicitly or explicitly, of any transmission of information. So, the alleged sources for this assertion do not support the assertion (and in the first case above, it actually goes against the assertion). selfworm^Talk) 23:06, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

Furthermore, this information is almost certainly false. The Mesopotamians and Egyptians had Algebra long before the Indians, and due to the proximity of Greece to Mesopotamia and Egypt, and its remoteness to India, Greece most likely got its Algebra from Mesopotamia and/or Egypt (which is currently the most popular theory).

Also, seeing as how little is known about Diophantus and the origin of his work, I have trouble believing that a line of transmission from India to Greece could be established. And I have never read anywhere (except for Wikipedia) that Diophantus got his Algebra from India. selfworm^Talk) 23:13, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

Selfworm, I agree with your assessment and I took out the shoddy passage. Cajori's book is available online[1][2], and consulting the index & searching through show that he does not make the claim the article ascribes to him. Moreover, Heeffer's article, while it does deal with speculation about Indian origins, significantly finds that all such speculation derives from Wallis 1685, which no one would confuse with a work of scientific history! Wareh 00:17, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dating of the 'Dark Ages'

'After Diophantus's death, the Dark Ages began...'

The Dark Ages began in 298? And really, isn't the phrase 'Dark Ages' just a little bit out-dated? Someone should come up with a good paragraph that captures the intent of the passage (viz. that Diophantus' popularity waned for a while after the fall of the western Roman Empire) but that doesn't use such a simplistic phrase (or at least fixes its beginning in 476 or something). Cal 18:11, 4 October 2007 (UTC)