How Did Viete Solve Roomen's Problem in 1595?

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SUMMARY

In 1595, François Viète successfully solved the polynomial equation posed by Adriaan van Roomen, which involved finding the roots of a complex 45th-degree polynomial. Viète's approach utilized innovative algebraic techniques that laid the groundwork for modern algebra. Key resources for understanding Viète's methods include historical accounts and mathematical explanations available through various online links, such as those from the University of St Andrews and Princeton University.

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  • Basic knowledge of algebraic manipulation techniques
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Mathematicians, historians of mathematics, and students interested in the development of algebraic techniques and the historical contributions of François Viète.

Ethereal
In 1593, Adriaan van Roomen posed the following problem to "all the mathematicians of the known world": Find the roots of:

x^45 - 45x^43 + 945x^41 - 12300x^39 + 111150x^37 - 740459x^35 + 3764565x^33 - 14945040x^31 + 469557800x^29 - 117679100x^27 + 236030652x^25 - 378658800x^23 + 483841800x^21 - 488484125x^19 + 384942375x^17 - 232676280x^15 + 105306075x^13 - 34512074x^11 + 7811375x^9 - 1138500x^7 + 95634x^5 - 3795x^3 +45x = C

where C is a constant.

Viete solved this in 1595. How was this done?
 
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http://francois-viete.wikiverse.org/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Best link
explanation with mathmatics

http://pup.princeton.edu/books/maor/sidebar_d.pdf

sorry about having so many links
but i posted them as I found them
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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