Jean-Robert Argand (1768-1822) was a Parisian bookkeeper. It is not known whether
he had mathematical training. Argand produced a pamphlet in 1806, run by a private
press in small print. He failed to include his name in the title page. The title was “Essay
on the Geometrical Interpretation of Imaginary Quantities”. One copy ended up in the
hands of the mathematician A. Legendre (1752-1833) who in turn mentioned it in a letter to
Francois Francais, a professor of mathematics. When Francais died, he inherited his papers
to his brother Jaques who was a professor of military art and a mathematician. He found
Legendre’s letter describing Argand’s mathematical results, but Legendre failed to mention
Argand. Jaques published an article in 1813 in the Annales de Math´emathiques giving
the basics of complex numbers. In the last paragraph of the paper, Jaques acknowledged
his debt to Legendre’s letter, and urged the unknown author to come forward. Argand
learned of this and his reply appeared in the next issue of the journal.
Jean-Robert Argand (1768-1822) was a Parisian bookkeeper. It is not known whetherhe had mathematical training. Argand produced a pamphlet in 1806, run by a privatepress in small print. He failed to include his name in the title page. The title was “Essayon the Geometrical Interpretation of Imaginary Quantities”. One copy ended up in thehands of the mathematician A. Legendre (1752-1833) who in turn mentioned it in a letter toFrancois Francais, a professor of mathematics. When Francais died, he inherited his papersto his brother Jaques who was a professor of military art and a mathematician. He foundLegendre’s letter describing Argand’s mathematical results, but Legendre failed to mentionArgand. Jaques published an article in 1813 in the Annales de Math´emathiques givingthe basics of complex numbers. In the last paragraph of the paper, Jaques acknowledgedhis debt to Legendre’s letter, and urged the unknown author to come forward. Argandlearned of this and his reply appeared in the next issue of the journal.
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