An account of Indian work in diophantine equations during the 6th through to the 12th centuries, and Italian work on solutions of cubic and biquadratic equations from the 11th through to the 16th centuries. This is volume 12 in the MATHEMATICAL WORLD series, and is geared toward undergraduates with no background in calculus.

This text offers a special account of Indian work in diophantine equations during the 6th through 12th centuries and Italian work on solutions of cubic and biquadratic equations from the 11th through 16th centuries. The volume traces the historical development of algebra and the theory of equations from ancient times to the beginning of modern algebra, outlining some modern themes, such as the fundamental theorem of algebra, Clifford algebras and quarternions. It is geared toward undergraduates who have no background in calculus. This book is co-published with the Hindustan Book Agency (New Delhi) and is distributed world-wide, except in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal, by the American Mathematical Society.

Some history of early mathematics: Euclid-Diophantus-Archimedes
Pythagoras and the Pythagorean triplets
Aryabhata-Brahmagupta-Bhaskarsa
Irrational numbers: construction and approximation
Arabic mathematics
Beginnigs of algebra in Europe
The cubic and biquadratic equations
Solutions for the cubic and biquadratic equations: Solution of the cubic equation
Solution of the biquadratic equation
Some themes from modern algebra: Numbers, algebra, and the physical world
Complex number systems and the axiomatic treatment of algebra
References
Chronology
Index