1799 lThe Royal Danish Academy publishes a paper by Caspar
Wessel that shows the geometric interpretation of complex
numbers, but the work will go unnoticed until 1895. Wessel
will ultimately share credit with JEAN ROBERT ARGANDfor
this work.1801 lGauss publishes his first book, Disquisitiones Arithmeticae,
devoted primarily to number theory.1806 lAmateur mathematician Jean Robert Argand is the first to
give a PROOFon the FUNDAMENTAL THEOREM OF ALGEBRA
in which the COEFFICIENTSare COMPLEX NUMBERS. Argand
also self-publishes a text on the geometric interpretation of
complex numbers, but fails to put his name on the book. The
work will remain anonymous until 1813, and eventually
becomes known as Argand’s diagram.1812 lCHARLES BABBAGE, the “father of computing,” makes the
first mechanical calculator.1823 lThe British government begins funding the first digital
computer, known as the Difference Engine, designed by
Babbage. Funds run out by 1827, and friends of Babbage
manage to get more funding from the Duke of Wellington in- In 1834, all of the money is gone again, and Babbage
asks the government for more. For the next eight years, the
British government refuses to give Babbage an answer as to
whether they will give him more money, and in 1842 they
finally tell him they are officially not going to fund the project.
The machine remains unfinished during Babbage’s lifetime,
and Babbage is ridiculed for wasting so much money.
1825 lDirichlet and Legendre prove Fermat’s Last Theorem for n= 5.
1832 lEVARISTE GALOISwrites his idea on group theory, and is shot
the next day in a duel that ends his life at the age of 20.1837 lDirichlet defines a function: “If a variable yis so related to a
variable xthat whenev er a numerical value is assigned to x,
there is a rule according to which a unique value of yis
determined, then yis said to be a function of the independent
variable x.”CHRONOLOGY 1799 – 1837
CHRONOLOGY 1799 – 1837