Journal of the Mathematics Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association
Volume 39 Issue 2, June 2002
59 – 60
Leonardo Fibonacci (c. 1175-c. 1250)
Klaus Puhlmann
Fibonacci is actually the nickname of the Italian number theorist and algebraist Leonardo da Pisa or Leonardo Pisano. Fibonacci is a short form of Filius Bonacci, meaning son of Bonacci. He is the greatest and most productive mathematician of the Middle Ages and his work is still prevalent in mathematics courses today. Fibonacci’s publication of Liber Abaci (Book of the Abacus) in 1202 greatly influenced the replacement of the Roman numerals by the Hindu-Arabic system of numbers in Europe.
