Opuscula Analytica.
St. Petersburg: Academia Imperialis Scientiarum, 1783-85. First edition, rare, of this collection of 28 previously unpublished papers by Euler, the majority of which deal with topics in number theory (e.g., papers 3, 5, 7-11, 14, 19 – see the listing below), of which the most important is ‘Observationes circa divisionem quadratorum per numeros primos’ (3), read at the St. Petersburg Academy in 1772. This paper gives the first clear statement of the ‘law of quadratic reciprocity,’ called the ‘golden theorem’ by Gauss who gave its first proof in his Disquisitiones Arithmeticae (1801). Euler had studied questions related to quadratic reciprocity for decades, starting with a letter to Christian Goldbach dated 28 August, 1742. He gradually accumulated numerical evidence, but did not feel able to formulate the ‘law’ until he did so in (3). He continued to work on topics related to quadratic reciprocity – paper (5) is an example – but a proof eluded him, as it did Legendre later. “Among other articles in the Opuscula analytica, paper (4) expands functions into continued fractions of functions; (6) examines interpolation methods in what would come to be called Fourier series and pathological functions; (11) proves what Euler knew as Waring’s theorem but is now called Wilson’s theorem: that if p is prime, then (p – 1)! +1 is divisible by p …; (13) gives the sines and cosines of multiple angles as an infinite product” (Calinger, pp. 529-530). The first volume was published in the year of Euler’s death, most of the papers having been presented to the St. Petersburg Academy a decade or more earlier. Apart from the papers dealing with quadratic reciprocity, the most interesting of the number-theoretic papers is perhaps ‘Nova subsidia pro resolutione formulae axx + 1 = yy,’ which gives a new method of solving Pell’s equation x2 – dy2 = 1. Euler had developed a method of solution using continued fractions in 1765 (‘De usu novi algorithmi in problemate Pelliano solvendo’) but noted that for some values of d this method leads to very tedious calculations (he mentions the case d = 61, for which the smallest solution is x = 1766319049 and y = 226153980). The new method, which generates solutions of Pell’s equation from solutions of closely related equations, is much more efficient, although it applies only to certain values of d. It has been repeatedly rediscovered over the centuries, and has recently been generalized to apply to any value of d. Another group of papers deals with finite and infinite series (1, 2, 20, 24, 25). Euler had famously solved the problem of exactly summing the zeta function series ς(n) = 1/1n + 1/2n + 1/3n+ 1/4n + … in the case n = 2, which had defeated the Bernoullis, and in paper (25) he calculates ς(2n) up to n = 17. In ‘De summa seriei ex numeris primis formatae 1/3 - 1/5 + 1/7 + 1/11 - 1/13 ... ubi numeri primi formae 4n - 1 habent signum positivum, formae autem 4n + 1 signum negativum,’ Euler notes that the sum of the reciprocals of the primes diverges, as does the harmonic series 1 + (1/2) + (1/3) + (1/4) + …. His derivations start with the ‘Leibniz’ series, 1 - (1/3) + (1/5) - (1/7) + (1/9) - ... = π/4. In ‘De eximio usu methodi interpolationum in serierum doctrina’ Euler presents his discovery of the ‘Lagrange interpolation formula,’ a fundamental technique in numerical analysis. This was published by Lagrange in 1795, and earlier by Waring in 1779 (‘Problems concerning interpolations,’ Phil. Trans., Vol. 69, pp. 59-67), but Euler’s paper was presented to the Academy on May 18, 1772. The last two papers discuss topics in probability, a subject not normally associated with Euler. ‘Solutio quaestionis ad calculum probabilitatis pertinentis’ treats a problem in annuities: How much should be paid by a couple, so that a certain sum of money can be paid to the heir after the death of the other? In ‘Solutio quarundam quaestionum difficiliorum in calculo probabilium,’ Euler studies the ‘Genoese lottery,’ a game of chance similar to today’s lotteries in which numbered balls are placed in a large wheel, five or six are drawn at random, and players attempt to guess the numbers. Euler became interested in such lotteries after he was asked by King Frederick II for his analysis of a proposal for a state lottery involving the drawing of five numbers from 1 to 90. Other papers deal with definite integrals (15-17), infinite products (12, 13), and several with one of Euler’s favourite topics, continued fractions (4, 21-23). The works included in these volumes are as follows. Calinger, Leonhard Euler, 2016.
Two volumes, large 4to (257 x 205 mm), pp. [iv], 364; [iv], 346, with two folding engraved plates. Bound in two fine uniform calf bindings with gilt armorial stamp of Collége Royal de Henri IV to the front boards, some light wear to spines and capitals and a 5 cm crack to the front hinge to second volume (still strong though), in all a very fine and unrestored set.
Item #6037
Price: $15,000.00
