History of Math Exam 2 Question and
answers correctly solved 2026
The Abacists - correct answer ✔-taught Italian merchants the Hindu-Arabic decimal system and the
basic arithmetic and algebra needed to use it.
-wrote only algorithms, but no reason for why they work (job security?)
-They gave the middle class and merchant class skills with numbers and algebra
-This was a precursor to higher level mathematics.
Cardano's Formula - correct answer ✔-discovered by Tartaglia and concurrently by Ferrari (?)
-is a solution to x³=cx+d
-x=₃√(d/2) +(√(d/2)²-(c/3)³)) + ₃√(d/2) - (√(d/2)²-(c/3)³))
Viete - correct answer ✔-wrote "The Analytic Art" in which he gave careful theories explaining how
algebraic equations were solved
The Analytic Art - correct answer ✔-written by Viete
-first algebra book that looks like modern algebra
-used analysis in which an unknown quantity is assumed known (x) and then manipulated just as if it
were known
-manipulating letters as well as numbers
-could use formulas rather than rules
-used vowels to represent constants and consonants to represent variables
Synthesis - correct answer ✔putting it together
, Analysis - correct answer ✔breaking it down
Mathematical/Linear Persepective - correct answer ✔-Artists were concerned with a mathematical
theory of drawing 3D pictures on a 2D surface.
-The first important Renaissance artist to incorporate perspective into his paintings was Filippo
Brunelleschi.
-Other artists incorporated these techniques to produce the first drawings and paintings using
mathematically precise linear perspective.
Simon Stevin - correct answer ✔-develiped notation for decimal fractions and encouraged others to
use them
-he argued that there was no difference between the number (discrete quantity) and magnitude
(continuous quantity)
-this is easy to see with decimal fractions
Who invented logarithms? - correct answer ✔John Napier
For what purpose where logarithms invented? - correct answer ✔-John Napier worked out logarithms
originally to ease trig calculations from chord tables.
-The original concept involced two number lines with a point "moving" along each, one at an arithmetic
speed (constant) and the other a geometric speed (decreasing) (a common way to think about
logarithms)
-Table of logarithms ran from 0 to 10,000,000
Albert Girard - correct answer ✔First explicit statement of the fundamental theorem of algebra.
-every algebraic equation...admits as many solutions as the denominators of the highest quantity
indicates.
-He counted negative and complex solutions in his count.
-This was some time before the fundamental theorem of algebra was proved.
answers correctly solved 2026
The Abacists - correct answer ✔-taught Italian merchants the Hindu-Arabic decimal system and the
basic arithmetic and algebra needed to use it.
-wrote only algorithms, but no reason for why they work (job security?)
-They gave the middle class and merchant class skills with numbers and algebra
-This was a precursor to higher level mathematics.
Cardano's Formula - correct answer ✔-discovered by Tartaglia and concurrently by Ferrari (?)
-is a solution to x³=cx+d
-x=₃√(d/2) +(√(d/2)²-(c/3)³)) + ₃√(d/2) - (√(d/2)²-(c/3)³))
Viete - correct answer ✔-wrote "The Analytic Art" in which he gave careful theories explaining how
algebraic equations were solved
The Analytic Art - correct answer ✔-written by Viete
-first algebra book that looks like modern algebra
-used analysis in which an unknown quantity is assumed known (x) and then manipulated just as if it
were known
-manipulating letters as well as numbers
-could use formulas rather than rules
-used vowels to represent constants and consonants to represent variables
Synthesis - correct answer ✔putting it together
, Analysis - correct answer ✔breaking it down
Mathematical/Linear Persepective - correct answer ✔-Artists were concerned with a mathematical
theory of drawing 3D pictures on a 2D surface.
-The first important Renaissance artist to incorporate perspective into his paintings was Filippo
Brunelleschi.
-Other artists incorporated these techniques to produce the first drawings and paintings using
mathematically precise linear perspective.
Simon Stevin - correct answer ✔-develiped notation for decimal fractions and encouraged others to
use them
-he argued that there was no difference between the number (discrete quantity) and magnitude
(continuous quantity)
-this is easy to see with decimal fractions
Who invented logarithms? - correct answer ✔John Napier
For what purpose where logarithms invented? - correct answer ✔-John Napier worked out logarithms
originally to ease trig calculations from chord tables.
-The original concept involced two number lines with a point "moving" along each, one at an arithmetic
speed (constant) and the other a geometric speed (decreasing) (a common way to think about
logarithms)
-Table of logarithms ran from 0 to 10,000,000
Albert Girard - correct answer ✔First explicit statement of the fundamental theorem of algebra.
-every algebraic equation...admits as many solutions as the denominators of the highest quantity
indicates.
-He counted negative and complex solutions in his count.
-This was some time before the fundamental theorem of algebra was proved.
