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Jean Robert Argand (1768 - 1822) was an accountant and bookkeeper in Paris who was only an amateur mathematician.
[[[> IMG:1156_Argand-Jean-Robert.jpg ]]]
Jean-Robert Argand (1768 - 1822) was an accountant and bookkeeper in Paris who was only an amateur mathematician.
Argand is famed for his geometrical interpretation of the complex numbers where
multiplication by /i/ is interpreted as an anti-clocakwise rotation
multiplication by /i/ is interpreted as an anti-clockwise rotation
through 90°. The concept of the modulus of a complex number is also due to Argand but Cauchy, who used the term
later, is usually credited as the originator this concept. The Argand diagram is taught to most school children
who are studying mathematics and Argand's name will live on in the history of mathematics through this important
concept.
later, is usually credited as the originator this concept.
The fact that his name is associated with this geometrical interpretation of complex numbers is only as a result
of a rather strange sequence of events.
For more, read on ...
* http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Argand.html
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