ABSTRACT
In this section we will briefly consider the history of solving polynomial equations. Starting from the well-known quadratic formula which was known to the ancients already, we will present the formulas which were found in the renaissance period to solve equations of degree 3 and 4. With increasing degree, these formulas become more and more complicated; it is not at all important to memorize them, and we will see that their derivation - though elementary - involves arithmetical tricks which somehow “magically” lead to the solution, but it remains obscure why these tricks work. It certainly took a great deal of trial and error before mathematicians hit upon the right “trick”, and a solution based on “tricks” does not easily lend itself to generalization.
