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Simon Stevin

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Simon Stevin

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Flemish mathematician, physicist and engineer (1548–1620)

Person · Open Library

Born
1548
Died
1620
Works
6

Top works

  • La castrametation
  • De beghinselen des waterwichts
  • De weeghdaet
  • Van de last en waerdigheyt eenes ambassadevrs
  • Ancient double-entry bookkeeping

via Open Library + Wikidata

Quotes

  • [The books of Euclid pass on to us] something admirable and very necessary to see and to read, namely the order in the method of writing on mathematics in that aforementioned time of the wise age.
  • The second Definition. Number is that which expresseth the quantitie of each thing.
  • The sixt Definition. A Whole number is either a unitie, or a compounded multitude of unities.
  • The seventh Definition. The Golden Rule, or Rule of three, is that by which to three tearmes given, the fourth proportionall tearme is found.
  • Multiplication of whole Numbers ...Note, that for the more easie solution of this proposition, it were necessary to have in memory the multiplication of the 9 simple Characters among themselves, learning them by rote out of the Table here placed...
  • The Rule of Three, or Golden Rule of Arithmeticall whole Numbers. Be the three termes given 2 3 4. ...To finde their fourth proporcionall Terme: that is to say, in such Reason to the third terme 4, as the second terme 3, is to the first terme 2 [Modern notation: \frac{x}{4} = \frac{3}{2}]. ...Multiply the second terme 3, by the third terme 4, & giveth the product 12: which dividing by the first terme 2, giveth the Quotient 6: I say that 6 is the fourth proportional terme required.

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Key facts

Born
1548, Bruges, Habsburg Netherlands
Died
1620 (aged 71 – 72), The Hague?
Alma mater
Leiden University
Occupations
Mathematician scientist music theorist
Known for
Decimal fractions , Delft tower experiment , Intermediate value theorem , Stevin's law

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image
Simon-stevin.jpeg
Show 6 more facts
Commons category
Simon Stevin
date of birth
1548-00-00
name in native language
Simon Stevin
date of death
1620-00-00
Commons Creator page
Simon Stevin
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

3 objects attributed to Simon Stevin, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~20 min read

Article

Simon Stevin ( Dutch: [ˈsimɔn steːˈvɪn]; 1548–1620), sometimes called Stevinus, was a Flemish mathematician, scientist and music theorist. He made various contributions in many areas of science and engineering, both theoretical and practical. He also translated various mathematical terms into Dutch, making it one of the few European languages in which the word for mathematics, wiskunde (wis and kunde, i.e., "the knowledge of what is certain"), was not a loanword from Greek but a calque via Latin. He also replaced the word chemie, the Dutch for chemistry, by scheikunde ("the art of separating"), made in analogy with wiskunde.

Biography

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