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You could not relate the equation $x^3+200x=20x^2+2000$ to the figures because, in fact, it does not originate from them. Here, Khayyam tries to find a point on the circle such that $ \frac{AE}{RH} = …

I came across an algebra problem book written in 1899 for students of Dar al-Fonun ([dɒːɾolfʊˈnuːn], meaning, "polytechnic college",) the only modern educational institute in Iran at the time (establ …

I was looking for the same claim about another mathematician (namely Vazgain Avanissian) that I came to this question. Following the clues left by the previous answer and the comments, I found a menti …

The longest-standing one of the sort is the "conjecture" that the parallel postulate can be proved using Euclid's first four postulates. I know that it is a far-fetched understanding of "conjecture". …

[Migrated from Math Stack Exchange] More than a year ago, I posted the following on the Math Stack Exchange. Consider $2^n-1$. Based on checking a few small numbers for $n$ (in fact, the firs …

Recently I have "finished" a 13-year on and off research on the history of the mathematical notion of equivalence. At the end of which, I learned that we owe the nowadays rather elementary process of …

Warning. This is an attempt at an answer out of curiosity rather than an expert answer. Newton has the following passage in "Recomputation of surfaces of least resistance," (1694) (see Whiteside*, p …

Not sure if this answer adds anything to the ones already given. I write it because It is an example where Euler explicitly writes about the necessity of giving a proof, and more importantly, calls a …

I guess, though I am not sure, the case of Albert Wormstein falls in your third category: Professional mathematicians writing mathematics under both their real name and a pseudonym. This paper: " …

Was Cantor Surprised? published in Monthly is debunking (or trying to do so) that Cantor was so surprised when he discovered $I=[0,1]$ and $I^2$ have the same cardinality that he said “I see it, but …

"The big picture" that can be seen in Carlo Beenakker's example is Rhetorical (verbal); Syncopated (abbreviated words); Symbolic. However, this well-known picture is very alge …

Just for the record, I thought this passage from Omar Khayyam's algebra book (p.49) should be here. In particular, it shows how hard it was to to tie the understanding of powers to geometry I say …

Is there any actual historical example in which a Cartesian plane with all four quadrants has been used, but with all axes marked with positive numbers? [Please see Sawyer's paper below for a "made-up …

This is a historical question that needs some background to make sense. Let me start with the longer version of the question: When did negative numbers, algebra and coordinate plane come together? …

Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Gowers. It is very short and indeed very insightful. It is not a textbook, but includes some school-mathematics topics. From the cover: The aim o …