With the introduction of Cartesian coordinates by R. Descartes and P. de Fermat in the seventeenth century, it was soon realized that equations in two variables generally define curves in the plane. Descartes had already made the distinction between...

Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which, as the name suggests, combines techniques of abstract algebra, especially commutative algebra, with the language and the problematics of geometry. It occupies a central place in modern mathematics and...