Abstract
The Alexandrian Greek mathematician Heron—whom we associate with the formula √{s(s − a)(s − b)(s − c)} for the area of a triangle—got involved in a calculation about a pyramid design which led to the evaluation of √(81 − 144). This occurs in his book Stereometria (C. A.D. 75) and to ‘solve’ it the numbers are turned round thus: √(144 − 81), to give √63 which is taken to be . (Is this a reasonable approximation for √63?) It is not known whether Heron made this transpositional error or whether a copier of his work was responsible. This seems to be the first occasion in which the square root of a negative number was stumbled across—a concept not properly understood for another 1750 years!
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