Precalculus with Calculus Previews, 5th Edition

Appendix A Complex Numbers

A.1 Arithmetic Operations and Properties

Introduction No one person “invented” complex numbers, but controversies surrounding the use of these numbers existed in the sixteenth century. In their quest to solve polynomial equations by formulas involving radicals early dabblers in mathematics were forced to admit that there were other kinds of numbers besides positive integers. Equations such as x² − 2x + 2 = 0 and x³ + 6x² + 11x = 0 that yielded “solutions” 1 + and − 3 − caused particular consternation within the community ...