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I am not an expert. My impression is that in India “Hindu” numerals and arithmetic were developed using some kind of erasable board, but among Arabic speakers
by jacobolus 5y ago
I am not an expert.
My impression is that in India “Hindu” numerals and arithmetic were developed using some kind of erasable board, but among Arabic speakers (and later Europeans) the spread of Hindu numerals went along with paper as a prerequisite technology.
This looks relevant https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.ucsc.edu/dist/f/704/files/2019/05/Islam.atCenter.JWH_.09.pdf https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.ucsc.edu/dist/f/704/file...
Here is a relevant looking book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300089554/paper-print https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300089554/paper-print
In e.g. Britain, the transition to Hindu numerals did not occur until 1600–1800, depending on the place.
- jacobolus 5y agohttps://doi.org/10.1017/jbr.2017.59 https://doi.org/10.1017/jbr.2017.59 is interesting
- dredmorbius 5y agoThanks.
- dredmorbius 5y agoIt's probably worth noting that Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli's dates are c. 1447 – 19 June 1517, shortly after Gutenberg and about 50--100 years after cheap papermaking (comparatively) first reached Europe. It's hard to have double-entry bookkeeping without books. I'm unsure if he used Arabic or Roman notation... Though the dedication page of Summa Mathematica in fact does include recognisable Hindu / Arabic numerals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_de_arithmetica#/media/File%3ALucas_de_Burgo%2C_Dedication_page%2C_%22Somma_di_aritmetica%22_Wellcome_L0006607.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_de_arithmetica#/media/Fi... Wikipedia's article has several illustrations, but none of the actual bookkeeping notation itself, which is ... a curious oversight. Continued on the double-entry bookkeeping article as well FWIW. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli