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Through and through the world is infected with quantity: To talk sense is to talk in quantities. It is no use saying the nation is large .. How large? It is no use saying the radium is scarce ... How scarce? You cannot evade quantity. You may fly to poetry and music, and quantity and number will face you in your rhythms and your octaves.
In J. R. Newman (ed.), The World of Mathematics, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956.
Loci: Convergence
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Mathematical Treasures
Gemma Frisius's Arithmeticae Methodus Facilis
This is the title page of 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.
On this page is an example of the use of double false position to solve a problem in two unknowns.
Here, Gemma describes a method of finding square roots.