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Elements of Algebra
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<p> <i>Elements of Algebra</i> is an <a href="/facts/Elementary_mathematics/J0Jt18pb">elementary mathematics</a> textbook written by mathematician <a href="/facts/Leonhard_Euler/z2fsbjgj">Leonhard Euler</a> around 1765 in German. It was first published in Russian as "<i>Universal Arithmetic</i>" (<i>Универсальная арифметика</i>), two volumes appearing in 1768-9 and in 1770 was printed from the original text. <i>Elements of Algebra</i> is one of the earliest books to set out algebra in the modern form we would recognize today (another early book being <i>Elements of Algebra</i> by <a href="/facts/Nicholas_Saunderson/mKA1vm4F">Nicholas Saunderson</a>, published in 1740), and is one of Euler's few writings, along with <i><a href="/facts/Letters_to_a_German_Princess/tcGTr9Nq">Letters to a German Princess</a></i>, that are accessible to the general public. Written in numbered paragraphs as was common practice till the 19th century, <i>Elements</i> begins with the definition of mathematics and builds on the fundamental operations of arithmetic and number systems, and gradually moves towards more abstract topics. </p><p>In 1771, <a href="/facts/Joseph-Louis_Lagrange/bTQUaSTv">Joseph-Louis Lagrange</a> published an addendum titled <i>Additions to Euler's Elements of Algebra</i>, which featured a number of important mathematical results. </p><p>The original German title of the book was <i>Vollständige Anleitung zur Algebra</i>, which literally translates to <i>Complete Instruction to Algebra</i>. Two English translations are now extant, one by <a href="/facts/John_Hewlett/1XEHxvyK">John Hewlett</a> (1822), and the other, which is translated to English from a French translation of the book, by Charles Tayler (1824). On the 300th birth anniversary of Euler in 2007, mathematician Christopher Sangwin working with Tarquin Publications published a digitized copy based on Hewlett's translation of the first four sections (or Part I) of the book. </p><p>In 2015, Scott Hecht published both print and Kindle versions of <i>Elements of Algebra</i> (<a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1508901181) with Euler's Part I (Containing the Analysis of Determinate Quantities), Part II (Containing the Analysis of Indeterminate Quantities), Lagrange's Additions, and footnotes by Johann Bernoulli and others. </p>