The Lamoille news. (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1877-1881, 1877-04-18
A DISTINGUISHED MAN.

] ltiEs ulAANlto AAAAtNA away ~ ""
learned heads, and, by doing this,
rendered a very great service to com
mon education. For, while in our
times even the very poorest may, il
they will, learn to read, write, and
cipher, il was once considered a sign
of unusual learning when one was but
! ill-versed in these three arts. The
mightiest generals, yes, princes them
selves, could not even sign their own
names, but had TO content themselves
with alIixing their seals, or making the
mark of the cross.
With reckoning, or arithmetic, it was
worse still, and the one times one, or
multiplication-table, with which YOU
are all so familiar, was indeed, at that
time, a thing of the "higher mathe-
matics." Not that the whole realm of
the science of numbers, in the broad
est sense of the word, has been OPEN
ed up in the last two or three centu-
ries, for there were already, among the
ancients, great mathematicians, Eu-
cid, Pythagoras, and others but all
mathematical knowledge beyond the
ability to count units or tens was the
exclusive possession of the most
learned, while all others were in a state
Of pitiable ignorance with regard to it.
To remedy this evil Of ignorance,
Adam Riese wrote his arithmetic, and
by it laid the foundation for the popu-
larizing of mathematics. Adam Riese
was born in 1892, somewhere in Saxo-
ny, but where is unknown. 1t is
claimed that his birthplace was Anna
berg, but it is an undisputed fact that
this place was not founded till 1896.
In 1922, Riese had his little reckoning
book printed under the title, "Reckon-
ing upon Lines and by Figures" In
1925 appeared a second edition. AT
this time he lived in Annaberg, and
turned his skill in figures to good use
by keepino fine accounts Of extensive
mining companies. lie was a school
master besides. and in his own nri-
vate school touoht his ort If orithmo-
tic. both on countinc-boord with
coins and bvf oures Also Tie died in
tho wear 1870 His two sons Ahro-
ham and .T,cob wore NOT loss distin-
ouisbed thon their father nc orithmoti-
cions cspeciallv Abraham who goin-
ed hiob honor. while his sons also
Uoinr;cb and Carl Rioso ero+,i,od
f,llv the ronuto+ion of tbair rrondfo
thor
In anoiant tinoes. and haseor1ies Halt
Iof the Middle Ages. the Roman sys-
tenn of numbers prevailed. by which
certain letters expressed a fixed num-
Der ofunits without CHANGING their val
no with tbrir nlacn Christianity woo
borne everywhere rnon the winos Of
the Latin speech. and its quickly won
SOVEREIGNTY IMPRESSED unon other moo.
pies many of the different usaoos NJ
the Roman emnire
About the wear 900, the Europear
world received nv Gerbnt aftnrwarc
Pope Sylvester IT, knowledoe Of ar
entirely new and much SIMMER art N
reckoning. Gerbert snpnt several wear,
in Moorish Spain. and studied hard NJ
her hiob schools lie made the oc
ouaintoncc Of tbe Mathematical opC
astronomical works Of the Greeks If
Latin TRANSACTIONS and hecomo f,mil.
ior with tba Arabic srstom Of amman.
alton. After no in 900 ascanded tbe
Panal chair he ueod avarv mans r.
spread throughout Chrome knowl.
edge of this Arabic method But he
succeeded only with the learned . tbe
common neonlp oot vary Ettlo idoo NJ
the whole matter. and continued tc
make diligept use Of their Thumbs and
i0i WV 'i''io "iiAOh