Arithmetica

Cover of the 1621 edition, translated into Latin by Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac.

Arithmetica, an ancient Greek text on mathematics written by the mathematician Diophantus in the 2nd century CE is a collection of 130 algebra problems giving numerical solutions of determinate equations (those with a unique solution), and indeterminate equations.

Equations in the book are called Diophantine equations. The method for solving these equations is known as Diophantine analysis. Most of the Arithmetica problems lead to quadratic equations. It was these equations which inspired Pierre de Fermat to propose his conjecture that for the equation $x^{n}+y^{n}=z^{n}$ where x, y, and z are integers, n cannot be an integer greater than 2. (See also:Fermat's last theorem).

See also

• Pierre de Fermat