Ursinus College Digital Commons @ Ursinus College Transforming Instruction in Undergraduate Linear Algebra Mathematics via Primary Historical Sources (TRIUMPHS) Summer 2018 Determining the Determinant Danny Otero Xavier University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/triumphs_linear Part of the Algebra Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Higher Education Commons, and the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits oy u. Recommended Citation Otero, Danny, "Determining the Determinant" (2018). Linear Algebra. 2. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/triumphs_linear/2 This Course Materials is brought to you for free and open access by the Transforming Instruction in Undergraduate Mathematics via Primary Historical Sources (TRIUMPHS) at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Linear Algebra by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Determining the Determinant Daniel E. Otero∗ April 1, 2019 Linearity and linear systems of equations are ubiquitous in the mathematical analysis of a wide range of problems, and these methods are central problem solving tools across many areas of pure and applied mathematics. This has given rise, since the late twentieth century, to the custom of including courses in linear algebra and the theory of matrices in the education of students of mathematics and science around the world. A standard topic in such courses is the study of the determinant of a square matrix, a mathematical object whose importance emerged slowly over the course of the nineteenth century (but can be traced back into the eighteenth century, and, even earlier, to China and Japan, although these developments from the Orient were probably entirely independent and unknown to European scholars until very recently).