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200 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
In 1486, Torquemada sentenced the Spanish mathematician Valmes to be burned at the stake because Valmes had claimed to have found the solution of the quartic equation. It was the will of God, maintained the Grand Inquisitor of the Holy Office of the Inquisition Against Heretical Depravity, that such a solution was inaccessible to human understanding.But if you read the endnote for this passage you find:
Depman. In fairness I must add that I have not found a reference to this event anywhere else, and Soviet books are unreliable where competitive religions are concerned.Beckmann rips the Roman Civilization and the Catholic Church for two full chapters for lesser scholastic violations than this.