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Tyrion101
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A couple of things I've read or heard in class suggest it's been around for a very long time. I got the impression it's from antiquity, but am I wrong?
Although Greek mathematician and engineer Heron of Alexandria is noted as the first to have conceived these numbers,[4][5]Rafael Bombelli first set down the rules for multiplication of complex numbers in 1572.
How right what is? Do you have a specific question about the wiki article?Tyrion101 said:Interesting, any idea how right this is?
It's a pretty short article -- I don't see anything that jumps out at me as being wrong.Tyrion101 said:Well wiki can be really wrong at times, and I was wondering if anything seemed amiss.
Emboughtened. Thank you.SteamKing said:There is a book-length treatment of the number i called An Imaginary Tale, which can be found on Amazon:
I may actually read it it sounds fascinating.epenguin said:It's an oft told tale, the idea was come across by Italian mathematicians Tartaglia, Cardano, Bombelli (who actually did what is a complicated story) in the Renaissance, in the 16th century. Arguably the most important piece of math ever done, no one will dispute one of the most.
Complex numbers can now be given a concrete image you probably know and made fairly obvious. Used by engineers and practical people every day. But that was only thought of centuries later. At the time it was just the square root of minus one which "obviously can't exist" but suspending disbelief if it existed they could use it in calculations (namely for solving cubic equations) and get just real number results, it worked! They called it strange names like "less of minus" or something. I think that was the first time they ever worked with such a thing of which there was no concrete model, that makes it quite pathbreaking, and set a new pattern for math, which is why it is so important.
They didn't like having to do it, and for a long time they thought it was a temporary expedient or shortcut, till they could find a more satisfactory way of solving cubics etc. I read it has been proved There Is No Alternative, that hey cannot be avoided in solving cubics and other problems - I don't know how advanced that proof is.
I am writing this from memory but there are loads of books on this history.
An imaginary number is a complex number that can be written as a real number multiplied by the imaginary unit, denoted by the letter "i". The value of i is defined as the square root of -1.
The concept of imaginary numbers was first introduced in the 16th century by Italian mathematician Gerolamo Cardano. However, it was not widely accepted until the 18th century when mathematicians such as Leonhard Euler and Carl Friedrich Gauss provided a rigorous understanding and application of imaginary numbers in mathematics.
No, the imaginary number i is not a real number. Real numbers are those that can be represented on a number line and include all rational and irrational numbers. Imaginary numbers, on the other hand, cannot be represented on a number line and are defined as a combination of a real number and the imaginary unit i.
Since imaginary numbers are a concept rather than a physical object, they do not have a specific age. The concept of imaginary numbers has evolved over time through various mathematicians and their contributions to the field. Therefore, it is not possible to calculate the age of imaginary numbers.
Imaginary numbers have many applications in mathematics, physics, and engineering. They are used to solve complex equations, analyze electrical circuits, and understand wave phenomena. Additionally, they are also used in fields such as quantum mechanics and signal processing.