Mathematician:Rafael Bombelli

Mathematician

Italian mathematician whose influence may have been greater than is currently recognised.

• Documented the rules for multiplication involving negative numbers.

• Pioneered the work on the understanding of imaginary numbers, using as a springboard Cardano's Formula for the solution of the cubic.

• Developed a method of solving square roots by an approach related to continued fractions.

Also worked as a civil engineer, gaining a high reputation for his involvement in the draining of the Val di Chiana marshes.

Nationality

Italian

History

• Born: Jan 1526, Bologna, Papal States (now Italy)
• Died: 1572 or 1573, (probably) Rome, Papal States (now Italy)

Publications

• Attempted a translation of the Arithmetica of Diophantus.
• 1572: L'Algebra (3 volumes of 5)
• 1929: The last two volumes of L'Algebra published.

Also known as

Some sources report his first name as Raphael, which may be a mistake.

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Rafael Bombelli": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Bombelli, Rafael (1526-72)
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Bombelli, Rafael (1526-72)
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Bombelli, Rafael (1526-72/3)