D'Alembert's proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: D'Alembert's proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra
zbMATH Open document ID: 1060.01006
author: Christopher Baltus
published in: Historia Mathematica
publication date: 2005-02-23T00:00:00Z
review text: This paper examines d'Alembert's original 1746 publication that attempts to prove the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, as well as a somewhat different version of the proof that appeared in~1754. Both d'Alembert's work and the views of several commentators are discussed. On the one hand, the author considers the basic soundness of d'Alembert's proof to have been underrated by many. On the other hand, he considers several other, more favorable, commentators (1)~to underestimate what is needed to install proper rigor into the proof and/or (2)~to deviate too far from d'Alembert's line of thought in patching up the proof. The article outlines a rigorous argument that the author feels adheres more closely to d'Alembert's ideas.
reviewed by: Leon Harkleroad
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A50
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 12-03
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 14H05
zbMATH DE Number: 2137385
zbMATH Keywords: fundamental theorem of algebra
zbMATH Keywords: d'Alembert
zbMATH Keywords: algebraic equations
zbMATH Keywords: algebraic functions
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: j.hm.2003.12.001
OpenAlex ID: W2042107789
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DOI: 10.1016/J.HM.2003.12.001
description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2137385