Notes made by Thomas Harriot on the treatises of François Viète (Q2425817): Difference between revisions

After having worked through Harriot's mathematical papers, Jacqueline Stedall has published several books on Harriot's algebra. The present article concentrates on inspiration Harriot received from Viète's writings. For eight of these, from the \textit{Isagoge} (1591) and the \textit{Zeteticorum libri quinque} (1591 or 1593) to \textit{Apollonius gallus} and \textit{De numerosa potestatum} and \textit{èxegesin resolutione} (both 1600), Stedall describes its contents and character, and then exemplifies concretely how Harriot commented upon and transformed the material, not least by ``translating Viète's prose into symbolic statements'' (p. 195). As Stedall argues, Harriot probably received the books from Torporley in 1600, and dated notes on the \textit{Zeteticorum libri quinque} begin in August 1600 (the other notes are undated).