Umbral calculus

In mathematics, before the 1970s, the term umbral calculus was understood to mean the surprising similarities between otherwise unrelated polynomial equations, and certain shadowy techniques that can be used to 'prove' them. These techniques were introduced in the 19th century and are sometimes called Blissard's symbolic method, and sometimes attributed to James Joseph Sylvester, who used the technique extensively, or to Edouard Lucas.

Bell and Riordan

In the 1930s and 1940s, Eric Temple Bell tried unsuccessfully to make this kind of argument logically rigorous. The combinatorialist John Riordan in his book Combinatorial Identities published in the 1960s, used techniques of this sort extensively.

Related Topics:
1930s - 1940s - Eric Temple Bell - Combinatorialist - 1960s

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