Argand

Jean Robert Argand

Born: 18 July 1768 in Geneva, Switzerland
Died: 13 Aug 1822 in Paris, France

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Argand was an accountant who was only an amateur mathematician. He is famed for his geometrical interpretation of the complex numbers where i is interpreted as a rotation through 90degrees.

The concept of the modulus of a complex number is due to him. He also gave a beautiful proof (with some gaps) of the fundamental theorem of algebra in 1814.

References elsewhere in this archive:

Tell me about Argand's work on abstract linear spaces and on the fundamental theorem of algebra

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. M J Hoüel, Essai sur une manière de représenter les quantités imaginaire dans les constructions géométrique (Paris, 1874). 
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JOC/EFR February 1996