Fernando, 

      This is mostly a very good mathematical biography of Ludovico Ferrari.
    I agree with your main point that the "contest" culture among Renaissance
    mathematicians probably held back the development of the subject somewhat.
    Open exchange of information between people working in an area does 
    generally lead to faster progress and additional discoveries.  

    I say "mostly" because your concluding paragraphs are not the strongest
    section of the paper.  For instance, you have confused the title of 
    Al-Khwarizmi's book, the "Hisab al-jabr, w'al muqabala" with a name.  
    Again, this wasn't another mathematician, it was the name of the influential
    book that Al-Khwarizmi wrote.  The word "algebra" comes from this title.
    Trying to put Ferrari into the tradition of work on algebra that came
    out of Al-Khwarizmi is good, but the connection is actually rather 
    complicated because there were so many steps in between.  What you 
    say in those last paragraphs is really the start of a whole different
    discussion, not a conclusion to the rest of your paper.  

    One comment:  The way you describe the algebraic contests as "duels" could
    be confusing to someone who didn't know the history.  It sounds as though
    they were lining up against each other at 10 paces with pistols or something.
    If you said "matheamtical duels," or something like that, this would be 
    clearer.


    Grade:  A-