Why John Chortasmenos Sent Diophantus to the Devil

Authors

  • Fabio Acerbi CNRS, UMR8560 Centre Alexandre Koyré

Abstract

Paleographical and mathematical arguments establish that Chortasmenos’ invective against Diophantus for the difficulty of a problem refers not to problem 2.8, which triggered Fermat’s ‘last theorem’, but to the far more difficult 2.7.

Author Biography

Fabio Acerbi, CNRS, UMR8560 Centre Alexandre Koyré

Chargé de Recherche de 1ère classe

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Published

2013-04-25

Issue

Section

Articles