This book explores the tight relationship that existed between application needs and computational problem-solving methods during the Middle Ages, particularly the period between the 9th and 15th centuries. It was a time of great cultural and economic evolution, starting with the blooming phase of Arab science and continuing with the acquisition of Hindu-Arabic computation methods (based on the decimal positional number system) in Western Europe.
The aim is to show, by means of suitable examples, how in the Middle Ages mathematics and computation were tightly related to the solution of everyday life problems. These ranges from religious problems like computing the date of Easter to land measurement and financial computations, as well as handling various volumes and managing agricultural resources.
In particular, during the late medieval centuries when the economy saw a substantial upswing, merchants' activity required strong computational skills to solve a great variety of problems. It is such need that led to the creation of the so called 'abacus schools' that the sons of merchants, primarily Italians but also from other European regions, attended during their boyhood to learn computing techniques.
Contents:
- Algorithms and Daily Life in Antiquity
- Algorithms in Daily Life at the Time of the House of Wisdom
- Algorithms and Puzzles in Medieval Monasteries and Courts
- The Penetration of Indo-Arabic Numbers in the West
- Abacus Books and 'Algorisms'
- Abacus Schools and Mercantile Life in the Late Middle Ages
- Computing in Humanistic Culture
Readership: General public interested in the origins of computing, contributions of Arab mathematicians, role of merchants in development of computing. Undergraduate and graduate students interested in the history of mathematics, computer science, and the medieval period.
