Mathematical Treasure: Geometria Cathoptrica and Aritmetica De Numeri Rotti

Author(s):

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

An anonymous Italian manuscript, from the last quarter of the 16th century, contains sections on both arithmetic and applied geometry. The section on the arithmetic of ordinal and decimal numbers is quite concise and obviously assumes a previous knowledge of the subject.

First page of a late 16th-century Italian manuscript on arithmetic.

Page on summation methods from a late 16th-century Italian manuscript on arithmetic.

Page on measuring liquids from a late 16th-century Italian manuscript on arithmetic.

In a similar manner, the geometry discussion focuses on specific situations.

First page of 16th-century manuscript on geometry and reflective optics.

Page showing a height problem from a 16th-century manuscript on geometry and reflective optics.

More height problems from a 16th-century manuscript on geometry and reflective optics.

A digitization of this manuscript appears in the third section of a bound collection held by the Wellcome Library (MS.509).

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Geometria Cathoptrica and Aritmetica De Numeri Rotti," Convergence (July 2023)

Convergence

Tags:

Elementary Mathematics