Rob'd of glories: The posthumous misfortunes of Thomas Harriot and his algebra (Q1571040)

The author investigates the fate of Thomas Harriot's algebra after Harriot's death in 1621 and, in particular, the largely unsuccessful efforts of seventeenth-century mathematicians to promote it. There were three compilations of Harriot's work, which are now assessible in libraries and all brought together within ten years of his death in 1621. One of the compilations was the book ``Artis analyticae praxis'' prepared by N. Torporley (1564-1632) and W. Warner (ca. 1557-1643) and published in 1631. The author analyses the contents of this book, as well as Torporley's critique of the compilation and discusses the impact of Vieta's algebraic papers. A partial translation of Torporley's critique is presented for the first time. The author then investigates John Pell's influence on J. Wallis (1616-1703) which was far more significant than has previously been realised. On this background a description of Wallis's 1865 account of Harriot's algebra and his accusations on R. Descartes (1596-1650), blaming him for having taken ideas from Harriot without acknowledgement, follows. Wallis's polemic in his ``A treatise of algebra'' burdened all later assessments of both Wallis and Harriot. Harriot's main contributions to algebra are seen in a simplification of notation, the handling of equations at a pure symbolic level and his insights into the way polynoms could be build up as products of linear and quadratic factors and to rise this composition as an analytical tool.