Stifel, Michael

The German Michael Stifel (1487 - 1567) was an Augustinian monk, who was later appointed as professor in mathematics.

He was the first to use multiplication by juxtaposition (with no symbol between the terms) in Europe, and to use the term exponent. He also included the following rules for calculating powers:

a^m × aⁿ = a^m+n
a^m / aⁿ = a^m-n

He was the first, who had a standard method to solve quadratic equations. He used negative numbers equal to the other numbers, and also discussed the properties of irrational numbers.

See also

• Archimedes
• Briggs
• Burgius
• de Decker
• al-Khwarizmi
• Napier