Essays on Early Medieval Mathematics: The Latin Tradition (Variorum Collected Studies Series, Cs751)

This book deals with the mathematics of the medieval West between ca. 500 and 1100, the period before the translations from Arabic and Greek had their impact. Four of the studies appear for the first time in English. Among the topics treated are: the Roman surveyors (agrimensores); recreational mathematics in the period of Bede and Alcuin; geometrical texts compiled in Corbie and Lorraine from Latin sources from late antiquity; the abacus at the time of Gerbert (pope Sylvester II.); and a board-game invented in the first half of the 11th century (the 'Rithmimachia') to help people to learn mathematics. Included in the volume are critical editions of several texts, e.g. that of Franco of Liege on squaring the circle, Bede and Alcuin on recreational mathematics, and part of Pseudo-Boethius' Geometry I. The book opens with a survey of mathematics in the Middle Ages, and ends with a history of Rithmimachia up to the 17th century, when the game fell into disuse. The Importance Of The Latin Middle Ages For The Development Of Mathematics (english Translation Of 'die Bedeutung Des Lateinischen Mittelalters Fur Die Entwicklung Der Mathematik--forschungsstand Und Probleme', Wissenschaftsgeschichte Heute. Ansprachen Und Wissenschaftliche Vortrage Zum 25 Jahrigen Bestehen Des Instituts Fur Geschichte Der Naturwissenschaften, Mathematik Und Technik Der Universitat Hamburg, Ed. C. Hunemorder. Stuttgart, 1987, Pp. 87-114) -- Mathematische Probleme Im Corpus Agrimensorum (die Romische Feldmesskunst. Interdisziplinare Beitrage Zu Ihrer Bedeutung Fur Die Zivilisationsgeschichte Roms, Ed. O. Behrends And L. Capogrossi Colognesi. Gottingen, 1992, Pp.) -- De Arithmeticis Propositionibus. A Mathematical Treatise Ascribed To The Venerable Bede (enlarged And Updated English Version Of 'pseudo-beda: De Arithmeticis Propositionibus. Eine Mathematische Schrift Aus Der Karolingerzeit', Sudhoffs Archiv 56. Wiesbaden, 1972, Pp. 22-43) -- The Propositiones Ad Acuendos Iuvenes Ascribed To Alcuin (english Translation Of 'die Alkuin Zugeschriebenen Propositiones Ad Acuendos Iuvenes', Science In Western And Eastern Civilization In Carolingian Times, Ed. P.l. Butzer And D. Lohrmann. Basel, 1993, Pp. 273-281) -- Die Alteste Mathematische Aufgabensammlung In Lateinischer Sprache: Die Alkuin Zugeschriebenen. Propositiones Ad Acuendos Iuvenes. Uberlieferung, Inhalt, Kritische Edition (denkschriften Der Osterreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse, 116. Band, 6. Vienna, 1978). Menso Folkerts. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. The Jewish community of early modern Venice was perhaps the leading Jewish community of its time. It emerged as a response to the desire of the Venetian government to make credit readily available and, toward the end of the 16th century, it greatly expanded as Venice, faced with a serious decline in its international maritime trade, adopted a policy of attracting Iberian New Christian merchants. Yet Jews were still treated as the Other and subjected to restrictions and discriminatory measures, including confinement to a segregated enclosed quarter; the'ghetto'. Despite this, the interplay between economically motivated raison d'état and traditional religious hostility resulted in a delicate balance which enabled the Jewish community of Venice to assume a real leadership role in the world of the Iberian Jewish Diaspora. Based extensively on previously unconsulted documents, these articles deal with central issues in the experience of the Jews of Venice, and so of Diaspora Jewish history in general: the Jewish quarter, maritime trade and urban moneylending, the Jewish distinguishing head-covering, relations with church and state, the forced baptism of Jewish minors, the converso problem, and anti-Judaism. This book deals with the mathematics of the medieval West between ca. 500 and 1100, the period before the translations from Arabic and Greek had their impact. Four of the studies appear for the first time in English. Among the topics treated are: the Roman surveyors (agrimensores); recreational mathematics in the period of Bede and Alcuin; geometrical texts compiled in Corbie and Lorraine from Latin sources from late antiquity; the abacus at the time of Gerbert (pope Sylvester II.); and a board-game invented in the first half of the 11th century (the'Rithmimachia') to help people to learn mathematics. Included in the volume are critical editions of several texts, e.g. that of Franco of Liège on squaring the circle, Bede and Alcuin on recreational mathematics, and part of Pseudo-Boethius'Geometry I. The book opens with a survey of mathematics in the Middle Ages, and ends with a history of Rithmimachia up to the 17th century, when the game fell into disuse.