1682-1766

Italian mathematician who made important contributions in finding solutions for second, third, and fourth order equations. These equations, in which a variable is raised to the second, third, or fourth power, respectively, are often exceedingly difficult to solve because of the wide range of possible answers. Fagnano dei Toschi helped develop more reliable ways to approach and find solutions for such equations. He also investigated complex numbers and elliptic functions, two other issues of great mathematical importance.