Historia Mathematica

Volume 9, Issue 4, November 1982, Pages 392–412

Early criticism of the symbolical approach to algebra

doi:10.1016/0315-0860(82)90105-7
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Abstract

For a long time, historians have believed that in the 1830s Sir William Rowan Hamilton was a lone critic of symbolical algebra. Using published and unpublished documents, this article shows that symbolical algebra was a considerably controversial subject among British mathematicians of the 1830s and 1840s. Special attention is paid to William Frend's and Osborne Reynolds' criticism of symbolical algebra. The article ends with a brief discussion of reservations concerning symbolical algebra expressed by Augustus De Morgan, William Whewell, and Philip Kelland.

Résumé

Depuis longtemps, les historiens ont cru que Sir William Rowan Hamilton fut le seul critique de l'algèbre symbolique dans les années 1830. En s'appuyant sur des documents publiés et inédits, cette étude montrera que l'algèbre symbolique fut un sujet de controverse considérable parmi les mathématiciens britanniques dans les années 1830 et 1840. Nous examinerons surtout la critique que firent William Frend et Osborne Reynolds de l'algèbre symbolique. L'étude s'achève sur une courte discussion des doutes qu'exprimèrent Augustus De Morgan, William Whewell, et Philip Kelland sur l'algèbre symbolique.

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Copyright © 1982 Published by Elsevier Inc.