La Disme

work by Stevin

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June 25, 2026

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Simon Stevin, a Flemish mathematician, published La Disme in 1585, a work that, along with his pamphlet La Thiende, presented a thorough account of decimal fractions and their practical applications. While Stevin did not invent decimal fractions, he was instrumental in establishing their use in everyday mathematics. He also advocated for the eventual adoption of decimal systems for coinage, weights, and measures. Stevin's work contributed to the broader development of the decimal system, a positional numeral system with a base of 10 that uses ten digits (0-9) and a decimal point to represent fractions. This system has been fundamental to the advancement of Western commerce and science.12

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mathematics
Numerical calculation
…Holland, in his short pamphlet La Disme (1585), introduced decimal fractions to Europe and showed how to extend the principles of Hindu-Arabic arithmetic to calculation with these numbers. Stevin emphasized the utility of decimal arithmetic “for all accounts that are encountered in the affairs of men,” and he explained in…
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…Holland, in his short pamphlet La Disme (1585), introduced decimal fractions to Europe and showed how to extend the principles of Hindu-Arabic arithmetic to calculation with these numbers. Stevin emphasized the utility of decimal arithmetic “for all accounts that are encountered in the affairs of men,” and he explained in…
Read More