Leonardo Fibonacci
| Fibonacci | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1175 Pisa |
| Died | c. 1240–50 most likely Pisa |
| Occupation | Mathematician |
| Known for |
|
| Parent(s) | Guglielmo Bonacci |
Fibonacci (c. 1175 – c. 1250) was an Italian mathematician, considered to be "the most talented Western mathematician of the Middle Ages". The name he is commonly called, "Fibonacci" (Italian: [fibona'tʃ:i]), is short for "filius Bonacci" ("son of (the) Bonacci") and he is also known as Leonardo Bonacci, Leonardo of Pisa, Leonardo Pisano Bigollo, or Leonardo Fibonacci.
Fibonacci popularized the Hindu–Arabic numeral system in the Western World primarily through his composition in 1202 of Liber Abaci (Book of Calculation). He also introduced Europe to the sequence of Fibonacci numbers, which he used as an example in Liber Abaci.
Fibonacci was born around 1175 to Guglielmo, a wealthy Italian merchant and, by some accounts, the consul for Pisa. Guglielmo directed a trading post in Bugia, a port in the Almohad dynasty's sultanate in North Africa. Fibonacci travelled with him as a young boy, and it was in Bugia (now Béjaïa, Algeria) that he learned about the Hindu–Arabic numeral system.
Fibonacci travelled extensively around the Mediterranean coast, meeting with many merchants and learning about their systems of doing arithmetic. He soon realised the many advantages of the Hindu-Arabic system. In 1202, he completed the Liber Abaci (Book of Abacus or Book of Calculation) which popularized Hindu–Arabic numerals in Europe.
Fibonacci became a guest of Emperor Frederick II, who enjoyed mathematics and science. In 1240, the Republic of Pisa honored Fibonacci (referred to as Leonardo Bigollo) by granting him a salary in a decree that recognized him for the services that he had given to the city as an advisor on matters of accounting and instruction to citizens.
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