Quadratic Equation - History

History

Babylonian mathematicians, as early as 2000 BC (displayed on Old Babylonian clay tablets) could solve a pair of simultaneous equations of the form:

which are equivalent to the equation:

The original pair of equations were solved as follows:

1. Form
2. Form
3. Form
4. Form (where x ≥ y is assumed)
5. Find x and y by inspection of the values in (1) and (4).

There is evidence pushing this back as far as the Ur III dynasty.

In the Sulba Sutras in ancient India circa 8th century BC quadratic equations of the form ax2 = c and ax2 + bx = c were explored using geometric methods. Babylonian mathematicians from circa 400 BC and Chinese mathematicians from circa 200 BC used the method of completing the square to solve quadratic equations with positive roots, but did not have a general formula.

Euclid, the Greek mathematician, produced a more abstract geometrical method around 300 BC. Pythagoras and Euclid used a strictly geometric approach, and found a general procedure to solve the quadratic equation. In his work Arithmetica, the Greek mathematician Diophantus solved the quadratic equation, but giving only one root, even when both roots were positive.

In 628 AD, Brahmagupta, an Indian mathematician, gave the first explicit (although still not completely general) solution of the quadratic equation

as follows:

To the absolute number multiplied by four times the square, add the square of the middle term; the square root of the same, less the middle term, being divided by twice the square is the value. (Brahmasphutasiddhanta (Colebrook translation, 1817, page 346)

This is equivalent to:

The Bakhshali Manuscript written in India in the 7th century AD contained an algebraic formula for solving quadratic equations, as well as quadratic indeterminate equations (originally of type ax/c = y).

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (Persia, 9th century), inspired by Brahmagupta, developed a set of formulas that worked for positive solutions. Al-Khwarizmi goes further in providing a full solution to the general quadratic equation, accepting one or two numerical answers for every quadratic equation, while providing geometric proofs in the process. He also described the method of completing the square and recognized that the discriminant must be positive, which was proven by his contemporary 'Abd al-Hamīd ibn Turk (Central Asia, 9th century) who gave geometric figures to prove that if the discriminant is negative, a quadratic equation has no solution. While al-Khwarizmi himself did not accept negative solutions, later Islamic mathematicians that succeeded him accepted negative solutions, as well as irrational numbers as solutions. Abū Kāmil Shujā ibn Aslam (Egypt, 10th century) in particular was the first to accept irrational numbers (often in the form of a square root, cube root or fourth root) as solutions to quadratic equations or as coefficients in an equation.

The Jewish mathematician Abraham bar Hiyya Ha-Nasi (12th century, Spain) authored the first European book to include the full solution to the general quadratic equation. His solution was largely based on Al-Khwarizmi's work. The writing of the Chinese mathematician Yang Hui (1238-1298 AD) represents the first in which quadratic equations with negative coefficients of 'x' appear, although he attributes this to the earlier Liu Yi.

By 1545 Gerolamo Cardano compiled the works related to the quadratic equations. The quadratic formula covering all cases was first obtained by Simon Stevin in 1594. In 1637 René Descartes published La Géométrie containing the quadratic formula in the form we know today. The first appearance of the general solution in the modern mathematical literature appeared in a 1896 paper by Henry Heaton.