Who was the first person to use the expression “Fundamental theorem of Algebra”? It is well-known that Gauss called it “Fundamental theorem of algebraic equations”. Grattan-Guiness, in his The Rainbow of Mathematics: A History of the Mathematical Sciences claims that “The modern name, ‘the fundamental theorem of algebra’, seems to have come in late in the 19th century”. But who used it first?
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asked Jan 15, 2019 at 11:25
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4$\begingroup$ Jeff Miller's site describes the first use in English as: Fundamental theorem of algebra appears in English in 1887 in “A New Method in Analytic Geometry” by William E. Story in American Journal of Mathematics: “...the fundamental theorem of algebra, briefly stated: every equation has a root.” $\endgroup$– nwrJan 15, 2019 at 16:41
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