Arithmetic in the Thought of Gerbert of Aurillac by Marek Otisk;

Author:Marek Otisk;
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Peter Lang Copyright AG

←127 | 128→

←128 | 129→

II. PRACTICAL ARITHMETIC

Saltus Gerberti, Geometria, the organ, De sphaera¸ horologium, the astrolabe, the observational hemisphere, etc., are renowned achievements tied to Gerbert’s name and they stem from his conception of arithmetic, which innovates on the contemporary understanding of this liberal art. The very application of arithmetic to other quadrivial sciences demonstrates a practical aspect to Gerbert’s approach to the science of numbers, which is further expanded upon in the form of practical arithmetic, i.e., (in Plato’s aforementioned words) in counting.

Two of Gerbert’s “primacies” are often stressed regarding basic arithmetic and numerical operations – the reintroduction of the counting tool known as the abacus (which, under Gerbert, takes the form of a table with inscribed columns of decimal orders), and the first introduction of Western Arabic numerals to the Latin Christian West, which is tied to the new method of numerical value notification using the positional decimal system.

Therefore, the second part of this book will focus predominantly on the abacus and the form in which it was presented by Gerbert to his disciples and friends, including the appearance of Western Arabic numerals and the recording of numerical values by them. In addition, attention will shift to Gerbert’s description of a method for making arithmetical calculations on an abacist counting table. In accordance with Gerbert’s treatise Regulae de numerorum abaci rationibus, we will first look at the rules for multiplication, followed by those for division.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.