By Scotty Brennan

Mini-lesson on the life of Sylvester II He was born in the Auvergne region of southern France in 945 His real name was Gerbert of Aurillac, but once he was elected pope, he changed his name to Sylvester II His parents and actual place of birth is unknown, because it was never recorded. He Died in 1003 at the Vatican

The Pope? Sylvester II was elected pope in 999 He became the first French Pope. He was Pope from Yet in his youth he studied at Muslim schools in Spain.

Mathematics He showed extraordinary intelligence throughout his life and became the most accomplished mathematician and philosopher of his time. Gerbert was under care of a bishop named Vic, and was educated at Vic’s cathedral by Arabian scholars. Here he studied quadrivium Which is the study of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. He also learned a positional numeric system, which is much like our modern numeric system. x x+3 2+2= 4

Accomplishments in Math Gerbert learned how to use proportions to approach music in a precise manner. Later on he invented a more advanced organ. This organ used water power to obtain constant pressure. Before, organs got their pressure from a pump controlled by the organist’s foot His organ not only gave an extended steady level of sound, but its pipes were matched mathematically so that its harmonics were superior to any other musical instrument heard in his region before.

Arabic Numerals Gerbert used Arabic numerals instead of Roman numerals This allowed him to make calculations in his head, where as people using Roman numerals would look at those calculations as very difficult.

The abacus Gerbert studied the Chinese abacus, and even constructed his own giant one. He built this on the cathedral floor in which he was studying. He used sixty-four members of the school to move the disks of his abacus. He was able to deal with much larger numbers than before. Gerbert could accomplish this because his abacus had 27 columns instead of 12 He wrote a book on the abacus, and it soon became a text book for the students at the Cathedral.

Bibliography ar ar es/illustrations/lecture17/gerbert.html es/illustrations/lecture17/gerbert.html d=231cec80-55c8-4d25-b96f- b4ad2b6e27ac%40sessionmgr8&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3Jj LWxpdmU%3d#db=mih&AN= d=231cec80-55c8-4d25-b96f- b4ad2b6e27ac%40sessionmgr8&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3Jj LWxpdmU%3d#db=mih&AN= enkirche_M%C3%BCnchen.jpg enkirche_M%C3%BCnchen.jpg

Bibliography (cont.) matics.html matics.html