HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS

Creative Reporting

Mathematics in the 16th Century

Groupmates:

AMARILLE, JEROME F.

ASUR, JEANNE ROSE M.

ATON, JAN MAE P.

BESERA, ANGELICA I.

BUTALID, IAN ANGELO T.

Outline (Written/Narrative Report):

I. Introduction

a. Ideas and thought processes of the Group for Creative Reporting.

II. Body

a. Mathematics in the 16th Century.

b. Mathematicians in the 16th Century.

c. Mathematics Teaching in the 16th Century.

III. Conclusion

a. Activity/Quiz

b. Sources/References
 I. Introduction

a. Ideas and thought processes of the Group for the Creative Reporting

The Renaissance, which means "rebirth" in French, typically refers to a period in European
history covering the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Knowing this, the group was able to
decide swiftly on making a report that would probably be inspired by some works of William
Shakespeare, in which in his time and even until now he is still one the most recognizable poet
and playwright. We had our meeting during our midterm week and we decided that we’re going
to report our topic, in a way where we’ll be telling a story, using some inspiration with Old
English, or English in William Shakespeare’s way.

II. Body

a. Mathematics in the 16th Century.

The cultural, intellectual and artistic movement of the Renaissance, which saw a resurgence
of learning based on classical sources, began in Italy around the 14th Century, and gradually
spread across most of Europe over the next two centuries. Science and art were still very much
interconnected and affiliated at this time, as exemplified by the work of artist/scientists such as
Leonardo da Vinci, and it is no surprise that, just as in art, revolutionary work in the fields of
philosophy and science was soon taking place.

The Supermagic Square

It is a tribute to the respect in which mathematics was held in Renaissance Europe that the
famed German artist Albrecht Dürer included an order-4 magic square in his engraving
“Melencolia I“. In fact, it is a so-called “super magic square” with many more lines of addition
symmetry than a regular 4 x 4 magic square (see image below). The year of the work, 1514, is
shown in the two bottom central squares.
Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita

This is a book on arithmetic, geometry and book-keeping published by an Italian Franciscan friar
called Luca Pacioli at the end of the 15th century and became prominent in the early 1600s for
its mathematical puzzles. It introduced symbols for plus and minus for the first time in a printed
book, these symbols became the standard notation.

Basic mathematical notation

During the 16th and early 17th Century, the equals, multiplication, division, radical (root),
decimal and inequality symbols were gradually introduced and standardized.

Later in the 16th century, decimal fractions and decimal arithmetic was introduced by Flemish
mathematician Simon Stevin
Bologna University

b. Mathematicians in the 16th Century.

Nicolo Fontana Tartaglia

Nicolo Fontana was born poor. He became known as Tartaglia (meaning “the stammerer”) for a
speech defect he suffered due to an injury he received in a battle against the invading French
army. Tartaglia was a self-taught Italian mathematician who was famed for his algebraic solution
of cubic equations which was eventually published in Cardano's Ars Magna.

Accomplishments:
● Revealed to the world the formula for solving first one
type, and later all types of cubic equations
● Formula for the volume of a tetrahedron
● First translation of Euclid's "Elements" in a European
language
● First to apply mathematics to the investigation of the
paths of cannonballs, known as ballistics.

Tartaglia encoded his solution in the form of a poem in an attempt to make it difficult for others
to steal it. Unfortunately, it was leaked to Gerolamo Cardano. This led in decade long fight over
the cubic formula. Eventually he lost the fight, and was discredited and became effectively
unemployable. He died penniless and unknown despite having produced all of his contributions.

Formula to Cubic Equation

During the Italian Renaissance In one of the 16th century Bologna University's public
mathematics competition, Nicolo Fontana Tartaglia disclosed to the world the formula to cubic
equations of all types.
 Simon Stevin

Simon Stevin was a Flemish mathematician who presented

the first elementary and thorough account of decimal
fractions and introduced their use in mathematics.

Accomplishments:
 Use of decimal fractions and decimal arithmetic
 Enjoined that all types of
numbers, whether fractions,
negatives, real numbers or
surds(irrationals) should be
treated equally as numbers in their own right.
 Also published books polygons, and music

Although he did not invent decimals (they had been used by the Arabs and the Chinese long
before Stevin's time) he did introduce their use in mathematics in Europe. Despite that he was
not that much recognized with his decimal fractions, it was only until America used a decimal
currency.
 Lodovico Ferrari

Ferrari was an Italian scholar who started as Cardan's

secretary and went on to devise the solution of the quartic
equation.

Accomplishments:
 Became Cardano's apprentice
 Won a debate against
Tartaglia since the latter
didn't show up.
 Appointed as the tax assessor to the government of
Milan

He died of white arsenic poisoning, administered by his sister Maddalena. She inherited his
fortune, and remarried. Later on, her new husband left her with all her fortune.

Gerolamo Cardano

Girolamo Cardan (English Name) or Cardano was an Italian

doctor and mathematician who is famed for his work Ars
Magna which was the first Latin treatise devoted solely to
algebra. In it he gave the methods of solution of the cubic and
quartic equations which he had purloined from Tartaglia.

Accomplishments:
 Published the Ars Magna
 As a gambler he wrote a
book called Book on
Games of Chance, which
contain perhaps the first
systematic treatment of
probability.
  First to describe the hypocycloids, the pointed plane
curves generated by the trace of a fixed point on a small
circle that rolls within a larger circle

He was prosecuted, for he was accused of heresy after publishing a horoscope of Jesus. His
son contributed to the prosecution, bribed by Tartaglia

The Great Art - Ars Magna

A book published by Gerolamo Cardano, this contained Nicolo Tartaglia's formula for cubic
equations and Ludovico Ferrari's quartic equations, both demonstrated the first uses of what are
now known as complex numbers, combinations of real and imaginary numbers.

c. Mathematics Teaching in the 16th Century.

The study of mathematics was disputed by many, because of its strong association with
trade and commerce. Because of this, sons of merchant were only taught in those subjects
which would only aid them in their efforts to become statesmen and politicians. What little
mathematics was taught in the merchant schools therefore became highly theoretical and
divorced from possible applications in the real world. The Scoula d'abaco, is another school
Founded in Florence helped cope up with this gap in the educational system, by teaching those
who wanted to improve in their ability in commercial areas. They provided courses Arithmetic,
Algebra, Astronomy, book-keeping, and the more practical elements of Geometry, which were
fast becoming important due to recent advances in Navigation.

The invention of the printing press having the most profound effect on education. This
allowed for a rapid dissemination of knowledge with many more people able to afford to
purchase books. This reduced the prices of books, and this caused an increasing amount of
interest in the sciences. Knowledge of certain mathematical skills and techniques beyond what
was available in most schools was becoming more important, especially in the towns and cities.
It was soon possible for people to earn a living as a private Mathematics tutor for those with
enough money, or as a Mathematics practitioner similar in style to the scriveners of previous
centuries. Those with more money either became academics or amateur mathematicians, many
of whom often made considerable advances in both the subject and its place in education.

The Renaissance was a period of immense transformations reformations that brought

about revolutionary discoveries especially in the field of mathematics. The disciplines of algebra,
geometry, applied mathematics and calculus were either born or revitalized in this period thus
paving the way for modern day mathematics. This was also the period of a newer method of
teaching, because of all the schools appearing, would provide the student with skills for life and
not just those which were required by their occupation.

III. Conclusion

a. Activity/Quiz

I. Match the Mathematician: Write the letter of the Mathematicians if it corresponds with their
accomplishments or contributions to Mathematics. (10 PTS.)
a. Nicolo Fontana Tartaglia b. Simon Stevin c. Lodovico Ferrari
d. Gerolamo Cardano e. Albrecht Dürer f. Luca Pacioli

1. Ars Magna
2. Cubic Equation
3. He became Cardano's secretary/apprentice
4. Super Magic Square
5. Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita
6. Decimal fractions and decimal arithmetic
7. Ballistics
8. Liber de ludo aleae
9. tetrahedral volume formula
10. Became tax assessor in Milan in the 16th century
II. Word Search: Find at least 5 words that relates to Mathematics in the 16th Century.(5 PTS.)

E R B H J T F Y Q W S F G H P

K C U B I C E Q U A T I O N U

H K A S F G R T A E R T Y U T

N M T L K J R H G C F D S A D

A S A R S M A G N A M I O L V

S A R A C R R S A R Y U R H F

D F T S D F I R T D U R E R R

G H A S V B A P U A T J H L A

R E G S S T E V I N A H J I D

T Y L Q W A S W C Z F A G I H

P R I N T I N G P R E S S G K

H J A K Q W S Z A E R I Y O L
Answer Key:

I. Match the Mathematician: Write the letter of the Mathematicians if it corresponds with their
accomplishments or contributions to Mathematics.
a. Nicolo Fontana Tartaglia b. Simon Stevin c. Lodovico Ferrari
d. Gerolamo Cardano e. Albrecht Dürer f. Luca Pacioli

d 1. Ars Magna
a 2. Cubic Equation
c 3. He became Cardano's secretary/apprentice
e 4. Super Magic Square
f 5. Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita
b 6. Decimal fractions and decimal arithmetic
a 7. Ballistics
d 8. Liber de ludo aleae
a 9. tetrahedral volume formula
b 10. Became tax assessor in Milan in the 16th century

II. Word Search: Find at least 5 words that relates to Mathematics in the 16th Century.

E R B H J T F Y Q W S F G H P

K C U B I C E Q U A T I O N U

H K A S F G R T A E R T Y U T

N M T L K J R H G C F D S A D

A S A R S M A G N A M I O L V

S A R A C R R S A R Y U R H F

D F T S D F I R T D U R E R R

G H A S V B A P U A T J H L A

R E G S S T E V I N A H J I D

T Y L Q W A S W C Z F A G I H

P R I N T I N G P R E S S G K

H J A K Q W S Z A E R I Y O L

b. Sources/Refrences
https://www.storyofmathematics.com/16th.html/

https://www.slideshare.net/JulieLusuegro1/16thto17threnaissancemathematicspptx

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Ferrari/

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Tartaglia/

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Cardan/

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Education/renaissance/

https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Stevin/