Person: Widman, Johannes
Johannes Widman was a German mathematician who is best remembered for an early arithmetic book which contains the first appearance of + and – signs.
Mathematical Profile (Excerpt):
- Widman's 1486 algebra lecture is the first to be given in Germany on that topic, and amazingly still survives in a notebook of a student who attended.
- Widman used Cossist notation, as was usual at that time, discussing 24 different types of equations.
- It is, however, for an early arithmetic book Behende und hupsche Rechnung auf allen kauffmanschafft Ⓣ(Nimble and smart calculation for all merchants), published in German in 1489, that Widman is best remembered.
- in the treatises of Widman, Pellos, Pacioli, De la Roche, Ries, Rudolff, Tartaglia, and Cardan.
- was also described by Widman.
- The popularity of Widman's book can be seen from the fact that it was reprinted in 1508 in Pforzheim, in 1519 in Hagenau and in 1526 in Augsburg.
- There are no direct references to Widman after 1489 but it is believed that he was still working on mathematical topics as late as 1498.
- Widman was probably the author of the book Algorithmus Linealis published in Leipzig in 1489.
- Widman's importance is that he provided one of the first practical applications of mathematical knowledge which, because of the recent invention of printing, was made accessible to a very much wider circle of readers than had ever been achieved before.
Born 1462, Eger, Bohemia (now Cheb, Czech Republic). Died 1498, Leipzig, Germany.
View full biography at MacTutor
Tags relevant for this person:
Origin Czech Republic
Thank you to the contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0! 
- Github:
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- non-Github:
- @J-J-O'Connor
- @E-F-Robertson
References
Adapted from other CC BY-SA 4.0 Sources:
- O’Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F: MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
