To expand search, see Medieval Europe. Laterally related topics: Leonardo of Pisa (Fibonacci), The Liberal Arts, Alexander de Villa Dei, Sacrobosco (John of Holywood), Nicole Oresme, Hungary in the Middle Ages, De Vetula, England in the Middle Ages, and France in the Middle Ages.
The Mathematics and the Liberal Arts pages are intended to be a resource for student research projects and for teachers interested in using the history of mathematics in their courses. Many pages focus on ethnomathematics and in the connections between mathematics and other disciplines. The notes in these pages are intended as much to evoke ideas as to indicate what the books and articles are about. They are not intended as reviews. However, some items have been reviewed in Mathematical Reviews, published by The American Mathematical Society. When the mathematical review (MR) number and reviewer are known to the author of these pages, they are given as part of the bibliographic citation. Subscribing institutions can access the more recent MR reviews online through MathSciNet.
Miller, G. A. Gerbert's Letter to Adelbold. School Science and Mathematics 21 (1921), 649--53.
Gerbert puts circles and squares inside an equilateral triangle, and attempts to explain why they give different answers for the area. We think of these answers as estimates, but Gerbert's letter contains no hint of a limiting process. Reprinted in Swetz, Frank J., From Five Fingers to Infinity. Closely related topics: The Abacus, The Measurement of Area and Volume, and Limit.Modify notes on this entry Modify bibliography entry Make comment on this entry
Schrader, Dorothy V. The Arithmetic of the Medieval Universities. Mathematics Teacher 60 (1967), 264--75.
The history of the notion of the liberal arts, particularly in the middle ages. The role of arithmetic (computational and theoretical). The abacus of Gerbert. The computation of Easter. The influence of the Arabic texts. Different attitudes towards arithmetic at different times and in different places. An excellent introduction to the mathematics of the middle ages, though of course it omits much on topics such as geometry and astronomy. Reprinted in Swetz, Frank J., From Five Fingers to Infinity. Closely related topics: The Liberal Arts, Arithmetic, Number Theory, Religion, Medieval Europe, and The Islamic World.Modify notes on this entry Modify bibliography entry Make comment on this entry
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