Dr Po-Shen Loh's reported 'not commonly known' method for solving quadratic equations is a good one. I posted a set of resources detailing an identical method, involving solving a quadratic equation by transformation on 11th Nov 2016 (here).
This was introduced to me a long time ago by David Wells who has published various detailed elaborations of this method (as early as 1981) and then in his book, 'Hidden Connections Double Meanings' (chapter 16, pages 114 to 116), published in 1988 by CUP.
It is a technique that undoubtedly warrants serious attention and it is not found in many texts that I have looked at.
The technique may well predate David Well's published works. The ancient Babylonians (4000 years ago) certainly could solve quadratic equations, maybe using a similar technique - although they appear to have found results by other methods.
It is admirable that Dr Po-Shen Loh has rediscovered and been able to achieve considerable attention for this method. He is clearly open to people suggesting other discoverers. Maybe David Wells should get a feature in newspapers?
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