Some history of linear algebra

Homework for Wednesday February 28

Section 3.2 Nr. 6,18,28,38*,48,52*

About the history of linear algebra

While the analysis learned in Math21a was introduced in the 16'th and 17'th century, much of the material tought in Math21b was introduced later. We learn in this lesson what people developed about 120 years ago. About 50 years ago, the theory was recognized as one of the most important topics in college mathematics.
-300 Diophantus: treatise on algebra
-200 Chinese: first Gaussian elimination
1545 Cardan: method for solving linear equations
1683 Seki: used determinants
1683 Leibnitz: used determinants
1750 Cramer: formula for solving linear equ.
1773 Lagrange: used matrices for Lagrange multipliers
1800 Gauss: elimination (used for celestial computations)
1801 Gauss: introduces term "determinant"
1826 Cauchy: eigenvalues and diagonalisation
1834 Sturm: eigenvalues in differental equations
1850 Sylvester: introduces term "matrix"
1855 Cayley: composition and linear trafos
1870 Jordan: normal form
1878 Frobenius: defines rank of matrix
1888 Peano: definition of vector space
1890 Weierstrass: axiomatics of determinant
1925 Heisenberg: reinvents matrix algebra for quantum mechanics
1947 vonNeuman: use in first computers
1948 Turing: LU decomposition


Compiled from different sources. Mostly from http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history.