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I continued to do arithmetic with my father, passing proudly through fractions to decimals. I eventually arrived at the point where so many cows ate so much grass, and tanks filled with water in so many hours. I found it quite enthralling.
An Autobiography.
Loci: Convergence
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Mathematical Treasures
Johann Boschenstein's Rechenbuch
This is the title page of Ain neu geordnet Rechenbiechlin (1514) by Johann Böschenstein (1472-1540). Böschenstein was best known as a professor of Hebrew in several German universities. In fact, Martin Luther studied Hebrew with him at one time. This rechenbuch introduced students to the basic principles of arithmetic, with application to various business problems. The engraving on the title page shows someone working on an arithmetic problem.
Here, on sig. A, f. vi, Böschenstein presents eight examples of adding fractions and mixed numbers.
On sig. B, f. iii, Böschenstein presents the rules for dividing fractions, along with eight examples.