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- Title
A Commentary on Silvio Belli's On Ratio and Proportion.
- Authors
Wassell, Stephen R.
- Abstract
In his 1573 treatise Della proportione, et proportionalità, Silvio Belli attempts to correct what he views as significant defects in Book V of Euclid's Elements. Unfortunately, he makes some key mathematical errors in his formulation of ratio and proportion theory, although they are understandable given Belli's place in history as well as the fact that he was more expert in engineering than mathematics. His most crucial errors involve his underappreciation of the axiomatic approach, which was not uncommon at that time, a lack of rigor in mathematical proofs, and problems regarding notation. Belli does make good use of commensurability to treat number and magnitude holistically, and his treatise remains important in its potential to reveal the thinking of a prominent colleague of Andrea Palladio, a fellow co-founder of the Accademia Olimpica in Vicenza.
- Subjects
RATIO &; proportion; EUCLID'S elements; MATHEMATICAL errors; EUCLID; HISTORY of mathematics; ENGINEERING mathematics
- Publication
Nexus Network Journal: Architecture & Mathematics, 2023, Vol 25, Issue 1, p41
- ISSN
1590-5896
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00004-022-00640-w