Elements of Algebra [Paperback]

Leonhard Euler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2007

2007 is the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Leonhard Euler. As a result there is likely to be a resurgence of interest in him and of course his work. His Elements of Algebra is one of the first books to set out elementary algebra in the modern form we would recognize today. However, it is sufficiently different from most modern approaches to the subject to be interesting for contemporary readers. Indeed, the choices made for setting out the curriculum, and the details of the techniques Euler employs, may surprise even expert readers. It is also the only mathematical work of Euler which is genuinely accessible to all. The work opens with a discussion of the nature of numbers and the signs + and -, before systematically developing algebra to a point at which polynomial equations of the fourth degree can be solved, first by an exact formula and then approximately. Euler's style is unhurried, and yet rarely seems long winded.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a facsimile reprint of John Hewlett's 1840 translation of Euler's Algebra and Lagrange's Additions thereto. Most of Euler's contribution is elementary, nothing more advanced than solving quartic equations, but worth having in order to appreciate his leisurely and effective style---would that more great mathematicians wrote so well and to such pedagogic effect. However, one third of the book is his lucid treatment of questions in number theory, and it is this material that drew Lagrange's comments. Here for the first time are the rigorous treatments of continued fractions and "Pell's" equation, and of quadratic forms. The combination of Euler's and Lagrange's tests, of experimental and theoretical research in Weil's description, is justly celebrated by the editors of Euler's Opera omnia, who print the two together, and it is good to see this classic back in print in English. Every library without much Euler should at least have this volume. It is accompanied by an excerpt of Horner's memoir on the life of Euler, and a eulogy by Truesdell, with a useful bibliography." -- MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, French, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Tarquin Pubns (September 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1899618791
• ISBN-13: 978-1899618798
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,152,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Magnum Opus by Leonhard Euler, August 11, 2010

By 

Apollonius - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elements of Algebra (Hardcover)

Elements of Algebra by Leonhard Euler is in a class all its own. His masterful exposition of rudimentary and not-so-rudimentary algebra is extraordinarily clear and notably readable. The problems that Euler designed are both profoundly elegant and in-depth. A percentage of each of his problem sets is relatively straightforward while other problems require some attentive thought. If one is interested in becoming a proficient algebraist in the classical sense, then Euler's work will greatly facilitate this objective. If one simply desires to 'read' mathematics for the sheer pleasure of it, this book will fulfill that aim.

By the way, the other reviewer's one-star rating has to do with a softcover and edited edition of this work.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Extreme Abridgment of Euler's Work, January 2, 2010

By 

Dr. Ross Lee Graham "drrosslg" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Elements of Algebra (Paperback)

This book is NOT a reprint of Euler's book as the publisher claims. Point one..is has significantly fewer than 300 pages and the Hewlett reprint requires close to 600 pages. Furthermore, Euler, a genius in mathematics, is corrupted by a new organizing of its contents as if this new editor had the genius to select and reorder the contents. Important footnotes have been removed under the pretense that they just took up space..etc. These include the famous Lagrange notes. Part II of the Algebra is completely left out. The title of this so-called reprint of Euler's brilliant book translated so well by Hewlett would better be entitled..Euler's Elements of Algebra Highly Abridged and Re-organized (by a scholar who has yet to prove he is up to such discernment)...