Diophantus: Biography, Achievements & Lasting Legacy

Diophantus of Alexandria (Ancient Greek: Διόφαντος, romanized: Diophantos) (; fl. 250 CE) was a Greek mathematician who was the author of the Arithmetica in thirteen books, ten of which are still extant, made up of arithmetical problems that are solved through algebraic equations.

Joseph-Louis Lagrange called Diophantus "the inventor of algebra"; his exposition became the standard within the Neoplatonic schools of Late antiquity, and its translation into Arabic in the 9th century AD and had influence in the development of later algebra: Diophantus' method of solution matches medieval Arabic algebra in its concepts and overall procedure. The 1621 edition of Arithmetica by Bachet gained fame after Pierre de Fermat wrote his famous "Last Theorem" in the margins of his copy.

In modern use, Diophantine equations are algebraic equations with integer coefficients for which integer solutions are sought. Diophantine geometry and Diophantine approximations are two other subareas of number theory that are named after him. Some problems from the Arithmetica have inspired modern work in both abstract algebra and number theory.