Arithmetica Universalis

Arithmetica Universalis ("Universal Arithmetic") is a mathematics text by Isaac Newton.

Written in Latin, it was edited and published by William Whiston, Newton's successor as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.

In fact, when Whiston's edition was published, Newton was so upset he considered purchasing all of the copies so he could destroy them.

He also offered, without proof, a rule to determine the number of imaginary roots of polynomial equations.

A rigorous proof of Newton's counting formula for equations up to and including the fifth degree was published by James Joseph Sylvester in 1864.