Simon Stevin's Oeuvres Mathematiques

This is the title page of the Oeuvres Mathematiques of Simon Stevin (1548-1620), edited by Albert Girard (1595 - 1632) and published in 1634. More pages are available on MathDL.

Simon Stevin's Oeuvres Mathematiques

Gerolamo Cardano's Practica Arithmetice

This is the title page of the Practica Arithmetice of Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576), published in 1539.  It was a comprehensive work on arithmetical questions, with numerous practical problems and even some elementary algebra and geometry.


More pages: Gerolamo Cardano's Practica Arithmetice

John Ward's Compendium of Algebra

This is the title page of A Compendium of Algebra (1724), written by John Ward, an English mathematicians about whom very little is known.  He was born in 1648 and died sometime around 1730.  It is known that he taught mathematics in Chester and is famous for another mathematics work, the Young Mathematician's Guide, first published in 1703.  That work was imported in large quantities to New England and was used for a time as a textbook at Harvard University.  It contains a very interesting method of calculating pi.


More pages: John Ward's Compendium of Algebra

Gemma Frisius's Arithmeticae Methodus Facilis

An example of the use of double false position to solve a problem in two unknowns found in the Arithmeticae Practicae Methodus Facilis (1540), by Gemma Frisius (originally Regnier Gemma) (1508-1555).  Gemma Frisius was best known for his work in astronomy and map-making; he worked closely with Gerardus Mercator in making an early globe.  He also suggested a method for determining longitude at sea.  


Gemma Frisius's Arithmeticae Methodus Facilis