Thursday, July 14, 2011

Boethius's Arithmetic


The Arithmetic of Boethius (480-524) dates from the early sixth century. This page is from a manuscript (Plimpton MS 165) that dates from approximately 1294, written on vellum. The above image is from page f. 13 and lists the powers of 2, 3, and 4 and also has some other tables representing multiplication by some of these powers. Note that the forms of the figures are not always identical to the modern form.



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