On the grave of Diophantus, there is a stele engraved with the … math legend of the late mathematician himself summarizing his life, the Vietnamese translation reads like this:
Mathematician Diophantus.
O passers-by, this is where Diophantus eternal rest.
If you want to know what his life is like, take the trouble to find out the following numbers.:
1/6 of his life is a happy childhood.
Growing up 1/12 of his life, he started to grow a beard.
Over 1/7 of his life, he got married.
Five years later, he was happy when his first son was born.
However, fate only allows his child to live a short life, exactly 1/2 his age.
His son died, he grieve for 4 years, then he also closed his eyes and took his last breath.
For a long time, people have deciphered the content of the epitaph by placing simple algebraic equations. Let x be the age of Diophantus, we have a neat math problem:
x = x/6 + x/12 + x/7 + 5 + x/2 + 4
It is easy to find the answer x = 84; Diophantus is 84 years old . Accordingly, Diophantus got married at the age of 24, had a son at the age of 37, that son was 42 years old.
Cover of Diophantus’ Algebra ie Diophantus printed in 1670, Latin translation.
In a book translated from Chinese bibliography, Mathematics (Science and Technology Publishing House, Hanoi 1993; page 88), there is a passage: “In ancient Greece there was a mathematician named Diophante (~325 B.C.E.) A.D.), there are no books to record his age, and his life is even more unknown.
In fact, Diophante (French) or Diophantus was an illustrious mathematician who lived and worked at the University of Alexandria in the early AD period, not BC. Turning any history book will find a mention of Diophantus next to a series of prominent names in the school of Alexandria of ancient Greece – the site is now in the territory of Egypt.
Although the exact year of his death is not known, but based on many discovered sources, experts studying the history of mathematics have long assumed that Diophantus was born in 325 and died in 410. are still recognized by current dictionaries. For example, Petit Larousse Illustré 1973 (p. 1295). If so, then Diophantus lived to be 85 years old.
He is known as the “father” of algebra, although he has been described as a “book-burner” when he did not share the answers to the questions he posed.
The life of Diophantus is unclear, but we do know that he wrote several books on algebra, including the “Arithmetica” series . This series of books has become an important document in the history of mathematics, and is considered one of the first works on algebra.
The “Arithmetica” series consists of 13 books, in which Diophantus solved problems in number theory using algebraic methods. This made him the first mathematician to use algebra for number theory.
One of Diophantus’ most important contributions to algebra was the Diofant equation. This equation introduces a problem involving number theory and algebra, and has become an important part of this field of mathematics. Diophantus was also the first to introduce letter/letter symbols into algebra.
In addition to being a mathematician, Diophantus is also known as a poet and philosopher. However, his works have been lost or destroyed, so information about his other activities is rather limited.