History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v1.c7.s16.7

v1.c7.s16.7

Several instances of the modern system of notation are to be found in Europe in the twelfth century, but no definite attempt seems to have been made for popularizing it before the thirteenth century. Perhaps the most influential in spreading these numerals in Europe was Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa. Leonardo's father was a commercial agent at Bugia, the modern Bougie, on the coast of Barbary. It had one of the best harbours, and at the close of the twelfth century was the centre of African commerce. Here Leonardo went to school to a Moorish master. On attaining manhood he started on a tour of the Mediterranean and visited Egypt, Syria, Greece, Italy and Provence, meeting with scholars and merchants and imbibing a knowledge of the various systems of numbers in use in the centres of trade. All these systems, he however says, he counted as errors compared with that of the Hindus.¹ Returning to Pisa he wrote his *Liber Abaci* in 1202, rewriting it in 1228.² In this the Hindu numerals are explained and used in the usual computations of business. At first Leonardo's book met with a cold reception from the public, because it was too advanced for the merchants and too novel for the universities. However, as time went on people began to realise its importance, and then we find it occupying the highest place among the mathematical classics of the period.