Claude-Gaspar Bachet de Méziriac

French mathematician

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June 18, 2026

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Claude-Gaspar Bachet de Méziriac was a French mathematician known for his work in number theory. He is credited with bringing the ancient Greek work Arithmetica by Diophantus to a wider audience through his Latin translation in 1621. This translation significantly influenced later mathematicians, including Pierre de Fermat. Bachet de Méziriac's work on Diophantus's problems led to a generalization known as Waring's problem.1

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number game
Pioneers and imitators
…was that of the Frenchman Claude-Gaspar Bachet de Méziriac, one of the earliest pioneers in this field, who is remembered for two mathematical works: his Diophanti, the first edition of a Greek text on the theory of numbers (1621), and his Problèmes plaisans et delectables qui se font par les…
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…was that of the Frenchman Claude-Gaspar Bachet de Méziriac, one of the earliest pioneers in this field, who is remembered for two mathematical works: his Diophanti, the first edition of a Greek text on the theory of numbers (1621), and his Problèmes plaisans et delectables qui se font par les…
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Lagrange’s four-square theorem
…number theory was the Frenchman Claude-Gaspar Bachet de Méziriac, whose Latin translation Diophanti (1621) of Arithmetica brought the work to a wider audience. In addition to the proof of Diophantus’s four-square theorem, study of the text led to a generalization of the theorem known as Waring’s problem.
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…number theory was the Frenchman Claude-Gaspar Bachet de Méziriac, whose Latin translation Diophanti (1621) of Arithmetica brought the work to a wider audience. In addition to the proof of Diophantus’s four-square theorem, study of the text led to a generalization of the theorem known as Waring’s problem.
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