Michael Stifel
| Michael Stifel | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1487 Esslingen |
| Died | April 19, 1567 Jena |
| Nationality | German |
| Fields | theology, mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Jena |
| Alma mater | University of Halle-Wittenberg |
| Known for | Arithmetica integra cf. Logarithms |
Michael Stifel or Styfel (1487, Esslingen – April 19, 1567, Jena) was a German monk and mathematician. He was an Augustinian who became an early supporter of Martin Luther. Stifel was later appointed professor of mathematics at Jena University. He is best known for his poem Von der Christförmigen, rechtgegründeten leer Doctoris Martini Luthers (1522, i.e. On the Christian, righteous doctrine of Doctor Martin Luther).
In 1532 Stifel published anonymously his "Ein Rechenbuchlin vom EndChrist. Apocalyps in Apocalypsim" (A Book of Arithmetic about the AntiChrist. A Revelation in the Revelation). This predicted that Judgement Day the world would end at 8am on October 19, 1533. When this prediction failed, he did not make any other predictions.
Stifel's most important work is Arithmetica integra (1544) contained important innovations in mathematical notation. It has the first use of multiplication by juxtaposition (with no symbol between the terms) in Europe. He is the first to use the term "exponent". The book contains a table of integers and powers of 2 that some have considered to be an early version of a logarithmic table.[1][2] Further topics dealt with in the Arithmetica integra are negative numbers (which Stifel calls numeri absurdi) and sequences.
References [edit]
- ^ Walter William Rouse Ball (1908). A short account of the history of mathematics. Macmillan and Co. p. 216.
- ^ Vivian Shaw Groza and Susanne M. Shelley (1972). Precalculus mathematics. 9780030776700. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-03-077670-0.
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This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (August 2010) |
- Stifel, Michael (1544). "Arithmetica integra".
- Anon. (Stifel, Michael) (1532). "Ein Rechenbuchlin vom EndChrist. Apocalyps in Apocalypsim" (A Book of Arithmetic about the AntiChrist. A Revelation in the Revelation).
- Koetsier, Teun and Karin Reich (2005). Michael Stifel and his numerology. pp. 291–310 in Koetsier and Bergmans (2005).
- Koetsier, Teun and Luc Bergmans (2005). Mathematics and the Divine: A Historical Study. Elsevier.
External links [edit]
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