Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

You are right in the sense that solvability by radicals has no practical importance, especially when it comes to calculations.

It is just a very classical pure math question, dating back hundreds of years ago. Its solution led to the development of group theory and Galois theory.

Group theory and Galois theory then are foundational in all kinds of areas.

Anyway, so why care about solvability by radicals? To me the only real reason is that it's an interesting and a natural question in mathematics. Is there a general formula to solve polynomials, like the quadratic formula? The answer is no - why? When can we solve a polynomial in radicals and how?

And so on. If you like pure math, you might find solvability by radicals interesting. It's also a good starting point and motivation for learning Galois theory.





Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: