Travelling Mathematics - The Fate of Diophantos' Arithmetic

In this book a comprehensive study of Diophantos' Arithmetika is given. The Arithmetika is a unique book within the known Greek mathematical corpus, while its author, Diophantos, is an enigmatic figure of whom we virtually know nothing. Life in Alexandria, where Diophantos lived is described, and, on the basis of scant evidence, his biography is given. Starting with Egyptian, Babylonian and early Greek mathematics a picture is painted of the sources the Arithmetika may have had. The structure, contents and mathematics of the Arithmetika are described in detail. In the second part the attention is drawn to the survival of Diophantos' work in both Arab and European mathematical cultures. Diophantos' Arithmetika was studied, translated, modified by such authors as Bombelli, Stevin and Viète. It reached its pinnacle of fame with the publication of Bachet's translation. The notes by Fermat in his copy of Diophantos were the starting point of a new research subject: the theory of numbers.Th