In 1801, Gauss used determinants in his
theory of numbers The next great contributor was Jacques - Philippe - Marie Binet, (1812) who
stated the theorem relating to the product of two matrices of m-columns and n-
rows, which for the special case of m = n reduces to the multiplication theorem Also on the same day, Cauchy (1812) presented one on the same subject He
used the word ‘determinant’ in its present sense