The leitmotiv in the mathematical thought of Gerbert of Aurillac
Joseph V. Navari
Gerbert of Aurillac, a noted tenth-century scholar, churchman and politician, studied mathematics, because, as he once said, it curbed the impulses] tumultuous minds. Mathematics taught that world physical reality was an orderly arrangement structures, parts fitting together into wholes. appears to have sincerely believe such thing, for his mathematics closely elected God His work. It metaphorical representation thus possessed religious sanction. Its method abstracting from trained mind see in this reflection Himself spiritual world, where peace, harmony unity were commanding principles. There everything extensive equal. In midst violence, would not these ideas appear particularly attractive? Men like Gerbert, who concerned with violence their time, saw ideas, long embodied various traditions, hopes future.
Journal of Medieval History