Old Intelligencer

Elements of Algebra

From
by

Euler

Leonhard

E d i t o r ' s N o t e : The following is an excerpt from Euler's

famous treatise. It shows the care with which Euler
explained even elementary mathematics; it also shows a
certain mysticism regarding infinite series. (See t h e last
section.)
The book was dictated to a servant shortly after Euler
went totally blind9 The intention was to teach the servant
(an apprentice tailor!) the basics of algebra and
consequently to make him more useful as a secretary in
future years.

291. T h i s s h o w s t h a t t h e f r a c t i o n 1/1 - a m a y b e exh i b i t e d u n d e r all t h e f o l l o w i n g f o r m s :

1
1-a

a
1 + - - ; =
1 -a

a2
l + a + - - ;
1 -a

Leonhard Euler

a r e e q u a l i n v a l u e to 1/1 - a, t h e p r o p o s e d fraction.

a3

= l + a + a 2 + - 9
1 -a'

292. T h i s b e i n g t h e case, w e m a y c o n t i n u e t h e s e r i e s
a s far a s w e p l e a s e , w i t h o u t b e i n g u n d e r t h e n e c e s s i t y
of p e r f o r m i n g a n y m o r e c a l c u l a t i o n s ; a n d t h u s w e s h a l l
have

a4

= 1 + a + a2 + a3 +

1 -a'
a5

= 1 + a + a2 + a3 + a4 +

, &c.

1 -a
N o w , b y c o n s i d e r i n g t h e first of t h e s e e x p r e s s i o n s ,
w h i c h is 1 + a/(1 - a), a n d r e m e m b e r i n g t h a t 1 is t h e
s a m e a s (1 - a)/(1 - a), w e h a v e
1+

1 -a

1-a
1 -a

a
+ - 1 -a

1-a+a

1 -a

1 -a

1 + a + a2 + a3 + a4 + a5 + a6 + a7

1 -a

If w e f o l l o w t h e s a m e p r o c e s s w i t h r e g a r d to t h e
s e c o n d e x p r e s s i o n , 1 + a + a2/1 - a, t h a t is to s a y , if
w e r e d u c e t h e i n t e g r a l p a r t of 1 + a t o t h e s a m e d e n o m i n a t o r , 1 - a, w e s h a l l h a v e 1 - a2/1 - a, to w h i c h
if w e a d d + a2/1 - a, w e s h a l l h a v e 1 - a 2 + a2/1 a, t h a t is to s a y , 1/1 - a.
I n t h e t h i r d e x p r e s s i o n 1 + a + a 2 + a3/1 - a, t h e
i n t e g e r s r e d u c e d to t h e d e n o m i n a t o r 1 - a m a k e 1 a3/1 - a; a n d if w e a d d to t h a t t h e f r a c t i o n a3/1 - a w e
h a v e 1/1 - a, a s b e f o r e ; t h e r e f o r e all t h e s e e x p r e s s i o n s

a8
.~_ _ _
9

1--a'
or we might continue this farther,
w i t h o u t e n d ; for w h i c h r e a s o n it m a y
proposed fraction has been resolved
s e r i e s , w h i c h is, 1 + a + a 2 + a 3 +
a 7 + a 8 + a 9 + a 1~ + a n + a 12, &c.

and still go on
be said that the
into an infinite
a4 + a 5 + a 6 +
to i n f i n i t y : a n d

t h e r e a r e s u f f i c i e n t g r o u n d s to m a i n t a i n , t h a t t h e v a l u e
of t h i s i n f i n i t e s e r i e s is t h e s a m e a s t h a t of t h e f r a c t i o n
1/1 - a.

293. W h a t w e h a v e s a i d m a y a t first a p p e a r s t r a n g e ;
but the consideration of some particular cases will
m a k e it e a s i l y u n d e r s t o o d . L e t u s , for i n s t a n c e , s u p p o s e , i n t h e first p l a c e , a = 1; o u r s e r i e s will b e c o m e
1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1,&c.;andthefractionl/
1 - a, to w h i c h it m u s t b e e q u a l , b e c o m e s 1/0. N o w
w e h a v e b e f o r e r e m a r k e d , t h a t 1/0 is a n u m b e r infi-

THE MATHEMATICAL INTELLIGENCER VOL. 5, NO. 3 9 1983 Springer-Verlag N e w York

7~

nitely great; w h i c h is therefore here c o n f i r m e d in a

satisfactory manner 9
Again, if w e s u p p o s e a = 2, our series becomes 1
+ 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64, &c. to infinity, and its
value m u s t be the same as 1/1 - 2, that is to say 1 / - 1
= - 1 ; which at first sight will a p p e a r absurd. But it
must be r e m a r k e d , that if w e wish to stop at any term
of the above series, w e cannot do so w i t h o u t joining
the fraction w h i c h remains; suppose, for example, we
were to stop at 64, after having written 1 + 2 + 4 +
8 + 16 + 32 + 64, w e m u s t join the fraction 128/1 2 or 1 2 8 / - 1 or - 1 2 8 ; w e shall therefore have 127 128, that is in fact - 1.

we c o n t i n u e the series to infinity, there will be n o difference at all b e t w e e n the s u m and the value of the
fraction 1/1 - a, or 2.
9

298. In the same m a n n e r , w e m a y resolve the fraction

1/1 + a, into an infinite series b y actually dividing the
n u m e r a t o r 1 by the d e n o m i n a t o r 1 + a, which, after
a certain n u m b e r of terms h a v e been obtained, will
give the law by which the following terms are formed,
so that the series m a y be carried to any length w i t h o u t
the trouble of continual division . . . .
Whence it follows, that the fraction 1/1 + a is equal to the series,
1 -

a +

a2 + a3 + a4 -

a5 + a6 -

a 7, &c.

294. There are the considerations w h i c h are necessary, w h e n w e a s s u m e for a n u m b e r s g r e a t e r t h a n

unity; but if w e s u p p o s e a less than 1, the whole becomes more intelligible: for example, Let a = 1/2; and
we shall have 1/1 - a = a/1 - 1/2 = 1/1/2 = 2, which
will be equal to the following series 1 + 1/2 + 1/4 +
1/8 + 1/16 + 1/32 + 1/64 + 1/128, &c. to infinity. N o w
if we take only t w o terms of this series, w e shall have
1 + 1/2, and it w a n t s 1/2 of being equal to 1/1 - a =
2; if we take t h r e e terms, it wants 1/4; for the s u m is
1 3/4; it we take four terms, w e have 1 7/8, a n d the deficiency is only 1/8: therefore, the more terms w e take,
the less the difference becomes; and, consequently, if

299.

If w e

make

a = 1, w e h a v e

this remarkable

com-

parison:
1

l+a

1-

1+

1-

1+

1-

1+

1-

1,&c.

to infinity; which appears r a t h e r contradictory; for if

we stop at - 1 , the series gives 0; and if we finish at
+ 1, it gives 1; but this is precisely w h a t solves the
difficulty; for since we m u s t go o n to infinity, w i t h o u t
s t o p p i n g either at - 1 or at + 1, it is evident, that the
s u m can neither be 0 nor I b u t that this result m u s t lie
b e t w e e n these two, and t h e r e f o r e be 1/2.

Studying Under P61ya and Szeg6 at Stanford*

by P. C. Rosenbloom
In September 1941 I started m y graduate w o r k at Stanford after g r a d u a t i n g from Pennsylvania. Since there
were few g r a d u a t e students in mathematics then, and
I had covered m a n y of the elementary graduate courses
b y i n d e p e n d e n t reading, I was p e r m i t t e d to register
for a rather light c o u r s e load. This consisted of a course
in differential g e o m e t r y with Uspensky, one in group
t h e o r y with M a n n i n g , a n d advanced reading and research with Szeg6.
My teaching load was 6 hours of college algebra and
trigonometry, u n d e r the supervision of Bacon, at a
salary of $700 for 9 months. After Pearl H a r b o r that
December, there was a t r e m e n d o u s increase in enrollm e n t in m a t h e m a t i c s . M y load was i n c r e a s e d to 9
hours, and Blichfeldt was pressed to c o m e out of retirement to teach again.
It m a y be of s o m e interest to note that I paid $25 a
* Reprinted with permission of the author and Birkhauser--Boston
from: Gabor Szeg6, Collected Papers, Vol. I, pp. 12-13. Boston-BaselStuttgart 1982.
76

THE MATHEMATICAL INTELLIGENCER VOL. 5, NO. 3, 1983

m o n t h for r o o m a n d board which, because of inflation,

was increased to $35 the following year. On S u n d a y
e v e n i n g s I w o u l d splurge w i t h a full-course restaurant
d i n n e r for 45 cents. Still I s a v e d e n o u g h m o n e y to pay
m y e x p e n s e s to the American Mathematical Society
m e e t i n g at Vassar in the s u m m e r of 1942.
Szeg6 m e t me once a w e e k to discuss m y progress.
M y a s s i g n m e n t was to d o problems in P61ya-Szeg6
a n d to r e a d T i t c h m a r s h ' s Theory of Functions. This
w e e k l y m e e t i n g gave a feeling of responsibility to have
s o m e t h i n g to report so as not to waste Szeg6's time. I
have f o u n d that such regular meetings have the same
effect o n m y o w n students a n d so have followed this
practice e v e r since. O f t e n Szeg6 w o u l d discuss the
ramifications of the problems a n d related results in the
recent literature. H e w o u l d point out natural questions
for f u r t h e r investigations 9
We h a d a weekly seminar. Since I was the only serious g r a d u a t e student in mathematics, the m e m b e r s
were Szeg6, Schaeffer, Hille (on sabbatical), Forsythe
(then an instructor), Doyle (an assistant professor), and
myself 9 Hille r e t u r n e d to Yale the following year, b u t
P61ya a n d Spencer joined the d e p a r t m e n t then. Hille
lectured o n the N e v a n l i n n a t h e o r y and on the Gel-