Diophanʹtine Analʹysis

Finding commensurate values of squares, cubes, triangles, etc.; or the sum of a given number of squares which is itself a square; or a certain number of squares, etc., which are in arithmetical progression. The following examples will give some idea of the theory:

1. To find two whole numbers, the sum of whose squares is a square;

2. To find three square numbers which are in arithmetical progression;

3. To find a number from which two given squares being severally subtracted, each of the remainders is a square.

⁂ Diophantus was an Alexandrian Greek (5th cent. A.D.)

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.