• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.26 no.5_6
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• pp.355-370
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• 2013

Thomas Harriot has been introduced in middle school textbooks as a great mathematician who created the sign of inequality. This study is about Harriot's symbolism and the theory of equation. Harriot made symbols of mathematical concepts and operations and used the algebraic visual representation which were combinations of symbols. He also stated solving equations in numbers, canonical, and by reduction. His epoch-making inventions of algebraic equation using notation of operation and letters are similar to recent mathematical representation. This study which reveals Harriot's contribution to general and structural approach of mathematical solution shows many developments of algebra in 16th and 17th centuries from Viete to Harriot and from Harriot to Descartes.