Greek Mathematical Thought and the Origin of Algebra

Important study focuses on the revival and assimilation of ancient Greek mathematics in the 13th-16th centuries, via Arabic science, and the 16th-century development of symbolic algebra. This brought about the crucial change in the concept of number that made possible modern science - in which the symbolic ""form"" of a mathematical statement is completely inseparable from its ""content"" of physical meaning. Includes a translation of Vieta's Introduction to the Analytical Art. 1968 edition. Bibliography.