Jean-Robert Argand

Jean -Robert Argand ( born July 18, 1768 in Geneva, † August 13, 1822 in Paris) was a bookseller and amateur mathematician.

He is the son of jeweler Jacques Argand and Eve Carnac. From 1791 to 1794 he participated in the Revolution in the Republic of Geneva in various management functions. After that, he first moved to Sèvres, then to Paris.

Argand published in 1806 a geometric interpretation of complex numbers ( Arganddiagramm ), is seen at the i as a rotation of 90 degrees. This geometric description of the complex numbers is usually named after Gauss. Before Gauss, however, has described except Argand already Caspar Wessel in 1797.

Works

Essai sur une manière de representer les quantites imaginaires dans les constructions géométriques. Paris 1806 (2nd edition 1874).

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