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The Commercial Arithmetic

In: Nicolas Chuquet, Renaissance Mathematician

Author

Listed:
  • Barbara Moss
  • Cynthia Hay
  • Graham Flegg

Abstract

In an age where mathematics was praised and commended for its utility in all trades and professions, there was a considerable gulf between the theoretical arithmetic and algebra of the Triparty and the needs of the market-place. A teacher might add to his prestige by writing on algebra, but his pupils’ motives (or in the case of children, the motives of their parents) in learning arithmetic were almost entirely practical, and the lives of merchants and their apprentices were not devoted to solving quadratic equations or to inscribing one regular polygon inside another. Evidence about Renaissance Florence collected by van Egmond (1976) suggests that the pupils at arithmetic schools were usually the children of merchants and craftsmen, destined to work in the family business, who would study mathematics for two years at about the age of eleven after a basic education in reading and writing their native language. The minority who wished to take their studies further might do so while acting as assistants to the master.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbara Moss & Cynthia Hay & Graham Flegg, 1985. "The Commercial Arithmetic," Springer Books, in: Graham Flegg & Cynthia Hay & Barbara Moss (ed.), Nicolas Chuquet, Renaissance Mathematician, chapter 0, pages 291-331, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-94-009-6502-7_8
    DOI: 10.1007/978-94-009-6502-7_8
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