The circulation of algebraic symbolism related to the first algebraic works in the Iberian Peninsula
- Autores: Fàtima Romero Vallhonesta
- Localización: The Circulation of Science and Technology: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of the European Society for the History of Science. Barcelona, 18-20 November 2010 / coord. por Antoni M. Roca Rosell, 2012, ISBN 978-84-9965-108-8, págs. 396-404
- Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
In the 16th century mathematics underwent in Europe deep changes whose diffusion was favoured by the invention of printing in the previous century, that changed completely the way of transmitting culture. One of the main changes was the progressive development of algebra from practical arithmetics, in which the symbolism played a relevant role.
In this paper we will analyse the circulation of symbolic language in the algebraic works of the second half of the 16th century from other countries to the Iberian Peninsula, and also this circulation in the Iberian Peninsula itself. We will give some examples to show that in some cases the use of specific symbols was due to the constrictions of typography, as Juan Pérez de Moya (ca. 1513-ca.1597) stated in his Arithmetica practica y speculativa (1562).
We will also analyse when symbolic language is used only as a simplification to contribute to a better understanding of the rhetoric reasoning and when it is used as a part of the symbolic reasoning, thus stepping forward from the operations with numbers to the operations with new objects of algebra. These analysis will contribute to the better understanding of the process of algebraization of mathematics in the Iberian Peninsula.
