Faith ClauseEssay 3: Viète – The Father of Modern Algebraic NotationMATH 4388
When one mentions the “Father of Modern Algebraic Notation,” most people probably think of a brilliant mathematician who painstakingly devoted the entirety of his life to the advancement of mathematics and who must have spent years pouring himself into his work. Sure, that is what most might think, but that would be far from the truth! Our understanding of some of the most fundamental mathematical notation in algebra stemmed from the mind of a lawyer - turned counselor to the king - who only occasionally dabbled in math.
François Viète was his name (and Vièta was his Latin nickname). He was born during 1540 in Fontenay-le-Comte, France to his lawyer father, Étienne Viète, and socialite mother, Marguerite Dupont.[1] Following in the footsteps of his father, Viète went on to obtain a Bachelor’s in Law in 1560 while studying at university.[2] He remained in this professor for a few years, running his own legal practice, until he was offered a position (1564) to serve as a private tutor for Catherine of Parthenay. He traveled with her family across France, but due to religious warfare decided to move back to Paris and study some of his favorite leisure subjects: mathematics and astronomy. He was even able to publish a paper on various topics in mathematics in 1571 due to this newfound free time. It did not last for long, however. A mere two years later King Charles IX appointed Viète to the Brittany government and asked him to transfer to Rennes to take up the title of counselor to the King. Following the death of King Charles IX and the rise of King Henry III, Viète was re-appointed as a counselor for this new monarch. Only this time he was allowed to move back and remain at the hip of the parliament in Paris. Not even a decade later, King Henry III was assassinated amidst religious and political turmoil. Viète was once more re-appointed by the king next in line to follow (King Henry IV). Even though his prior positions did not allow much time for Viète to engage in hobbies, his mathematical skill was soon noticed by King Henry IV. He was tasked with deciphering encrypted messages being sent over enemy lines in order to stay a tactical foot ahead of the warfare. Decoding the message was probably the harbinger of Viète’s mathematical contributions that were soon to come. From a lawyer to a royal counselor, Viète was unknowingly on his way to making a name for himself in the realm of mathematics. He started to lecture on the topic of mathematics a couple years after he deciphered the encoded message for the King.[3] During these lectures, he would revise proofs that were previously riddled with errors. His name was already well-known due to his service with royalty and his lecture series. Yet, it wasn’t until the 1590s that the world really would come to know the name Viète.
A famous Belgian mathematician by the name of Adriaen van Roomen had proposed a math challenge to the public: solve the 45th-degree equation he had chosen. The King called on Viète to solve this since he had already proven his problem-solving skills. He found a solution almost immediately. Then, just a day later after having chewed on it a bit more, he returned with 22 more solutions. Van Roomen was stunned, to say the least. This may have been the historical moment that gained Viète immense notoriety throughout France, yet it was not quite the most significant of his contributions to mathematics. Prior to this challenge, he had written a math text titled In artem analyticam isagoge (1591) in which he expanded on the theory of equations and was amongst the first mathematicians to introduce the idea of unknown variables. This was a giant step up the ladder from the archaic and relatively stagnant work of European algebraists. Fellow modern mathematicians began to follow in his footsteps to shape their own work concerning mathematical notation. Another great thinker and mathematician, Rene Descartes, later went on to improve upon Viète’s work after his death. He extended the notion of unknown variables to be more specific and set a standard for how to write them. For example, he suggested to express known values with variables near the beginning of the alphabet, while unknown values were to be expressed by letters near the end. That is why in proofs we generally fix variables such as a, b, or c in the beginning to help us solve for unknown variables like x or y. There were several other articles and books Viète later went on to publish, as well as a plethora of mathematicians he went on to inspire. He is credited with making the German (+) symbol of addition and (–) symbol of subtraction popular within his writings. Viète was even able to define pi to the ninth decimal place, besting Archimedes, and was amongst the first to think of pi as continuous, infinite value.[4] The list goes on and on for his contributions to algebra and other fields of mathematics over time. In 1603, Viète had received permission from King Henry IV to retire from the eye of public life. He died later in that year.[5]
The life of Viète is one of intrigue since he is not your typical, nuclear, everyday mathematician. His works impacted the works of many and lead to some of the greatest advancements in not only algebra, but in geometry as well. His name speaks for itself and the legend of the former lawyer who was the father of modern algebra continues to live on in his work.
References
Hartshorne, R. (n.d.). François Viète - Life. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from
Ji, S. (n.d.). The History of Mathematics.
O'Connor, J. J., & Robertson, E. F. (2000, January). François Viète. Retrieved from
[1]J. J. O’Connor, E. F. Robertson, François Viète,
[2]Dr. Shanyu Ji, The History of Mathematics
[3]Robin Hartshorne, François Viète – Life,
[4]Dr. Shanyu Ji, The History of Mathematics
[5]Robin Hartshorne, François Viète – Life,