TY - CHAP
TI - Interpreting Tables of the Arithmetical Introduction of Nicomachus
Through Pachymeres' Treatment of Arithmetic: Preliminary Observations
AU - Megremi, Athanasia
AU - Christianidis, Jean
T2 - COMPUTATIONS AND COMPUTING DEVICES IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION BEFORE THE
ADVENT OF ELECTRONIC CALCULATORS
PB - SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG
PY - 2018
SN - 978-3-319-73396-8; 978-3-319-73394-4
SP - 65-93
TODO - 10.1007/978-3-319-73396-8_4
TODO - Nicomachus; Diophantus; Pachymeres; Problem-solving; Arithmetic; Tables
TODO - Nicomachus of Gerasa's Arithmetical introduction, a late antique
arithmetic-work that was highly appreciated for its educational value
throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, is traditionally
characterized by historians of mathematics as theoretical, without any
practical orientation at all. In this chapter, it is argued that the
textual analysis of the work suggests otherwise. More specifically, the
inclusion of tables that are accompanied by meticulously detailed
instructions towards reading, constructing and using them, suggests that
these particular sections of the work could be viewed in the context of
a certain arithmetical practice and its learning. Furthermore, we will
argue that the Quadrivium of the Byzantine scholar Georgios Pachymeres
provides us with a case study of how the Nicomachean tables can be
interpreted as devices that could be used in arithmetical
problem-solving.
ER -