<P> Boethius provided a place for mathematics in the curriculum in the 6th century when he coined the term quadrivium to describe the study of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music . He wrote De institutione arithmetica, a free translation from the Greek of Nicomachus's Introduction to Arithmetic; De institutione musica, also derived from Greek sources; and a series of excerpts from Euclid's Elements . His works were theoretical, rather than practical, and were the basis of mathematical study until the recovery of Greek and Arabic mathematical works . </P> <P> In the 12th century, European scholars traveled to Spain and Sicily seeking scientific Arabic texts, including al - Khwārizmī's The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing, translated into Latin by Robert of Chester, and the complete text of Euclid's Elements, translated in various versions by Adelard of Bath, Herman of Carinthia, and Gerard of Cremona . These and other new sources sparked a renewal of mathematics . </P> <P> Leonardo of Pisa, now known as Fibonacci, serendipitously learned about the Hindu--Arabic numerals on a trip to what is now Béjaïa, Algeria with his merchant father . (Europe was still using Roman numerals .) There, he observed a system of arithmetic (specifically algorism) which due to the positional notation of Hindu--Arabic numerals was much more efficient and greatly facilitated commerce . Leonardo wrote Liber Abaci in 1202 (updated in 1254) introducing the technique to Europe and beginning a long period of popularizing it . The book also brought to Europe what is now known as the Fibonacci sequence (known to Indian mathematicians for hundreds of years before that) which was used as an unremarkable example within the text . </P> <P> The 14th century saw the development of new mathematical concepts to investigate a wide range of problems . One important contribution was development of mathematics of local motion . </P>

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