Arithmetic in the Thought of Gerbert of Aurillac

The book deals with Gerbert of Aurillac (Pope Sylvester II) and his investigations in the field of theoretical and practical arithmetic. It is mainly based on an analysis of Gerbert's so-called scientific letters. An attention is paid to the philosophy of numbers (Saltus Gerberti, quadrivium) and practical counting (Hindu-Arabic numerals, abacus).

Autorentext

Marek Otisk is Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava. His research interest is focused on medieval philosophy, especially the metaphysics, dialectics (logic), mathematics or astronomy(natural philosophy) in the 10th and 11th centuries (for example Gerbert of Aurillac or Anselm of Canterbury).

Inhalt

Arithmetic as the science of numbers Theoretical arithmetic: The Nature of Numbers: Saltus Gerberti (Letter to Constantine) Figurative Numbers and Geometry (Letter to Adelbold) Music and Harmony (Two Letters to Constantine) Astronomy and Timekeeping (Letter De sphaera, Richer's Historia, and the horological letter to Adam) Practical arithmetic: Tabula abaci, decimal positional notation and ghubar numbers Regulae multiplicationis Regulae divisionis