The history of Algebra in Italy inthe 14th and 15th centuries. Some Remarks on Recent Historiography

Resum

The solution of the algebraic equations of third and fourth degree by Italian algebraists in the first half of the 16th century is considered the beginning of the development of modern mathematics. These results have their roots in Italian vernacular algebra that was taught in Abbacus School and written in a chapter of abbacus treatises since the beginning of the 14thcentury. In recent years many of these treatises has been published and studied. Particular attention has been paid to the origins of Italian vernacular algebra that does not seem linked to al-Khwarizmi’s and Fibonacci’s tradition. In this paper we make a survey of the main 14th century treatises and give some contribution to the problem of the origins.