Michel Rolle was a largely self-educated mathematician who taught himself both algebra and Diophantine analysis, a method for solving equations with no unique solution. He won early repute when he solved a problem set by the mathematician Jacques Ozanam, but his real passion lay in the field of the algebra of equations. His most famous work was the Traite d'algebre of 1690, in which he not only invented the modern notation for the nth root of x, but also expounded on his "cascade" method to separate the roots of an algebraic equation. He is best remembered for the theorem which bears his name, Rolle's Theorem, which determines the position of roots in an equation.

Little is known about Rolle's youth. He was born in Ambert, Bass-Auvergne in France on April 21, 1652. His father was a shopkeeper and the young Rolle had only a basic elementary education before he began...