Diophantus of Alexandria -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Born: about 200 Died: about 284 Previous (Chronologically) Next Biographies Index Previous (Alphabetically) Next Main index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diophantus, often known as the 'father of algebra', is best known for his Arithmetica, a work on the solution of algebraic equations and on the theory of numbers. However, essentially nothing is known of his life and there has been much debate regarding the date at which he lived. There are a few limits which can be put on the dates of Diophantus's life. On the one hand Diophantus quotes the definition of a polygonal number from the work...