This book gives a comprehensive picture of the activities and the creative heritage of Simon Stevin, who made outstanding contributions to various fields of science in particular, physics and mathematics and many more. Among the striking spectrum of his ingenious achievements, it is worth emphasizing that Simon Stevin is rightly considered as the father of decimal fractions as they are in use today. Stevin also urged the universal use of decimal fractions along with standardization in coinage, measures and weights. This was a most visionary proposal. Stevin was the first since Archimedes to make a significant new contribution to statics and hydrostatics. He truly was "homo universalis".The impact of Stevin's work has been multilateral and worldwide, including literature (William Shakespeare), science (from Christian Huygens to Richard Feynman), Politics (Thomas Jefferson) and many other fields. Thomas Jefferson, together with Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris, advocated introducing the decimal monetary unit in the USA with reference to the book "De Thiende" by S. Stevin and in particular to the English translation of the book: "Disme: The Art of Tenths" by Robert Norton. In accordance with the title of this translation, the name of the first silver coin issued in the USA in 1792 was "disme" (since 1837 the spelling changed to ("dime"). It was considered as a symbol of national independence of the USA.

The Wonderful World of Simon Stevin: Magic is No Magic

Science & Math

J. T. Devreese

G. Vanden Berghe

History & Philosophy

WIT Press

This book gives a comprehensive picture of the activities and the creative heritage of Simon Stevin, who made outstanding contributions to various fields of science, in particular physics and mathematics, as well as many more. Among the striking spectrum of his ingenious achievements, it is worth emphasizing that Simon Stevin is rightly considered the father of the decimal fraction system as it is today. Stevin also urged the universal use of decimal fractions along with standardization in coinage, measures and weights. This was a most visionary proposal. Stevin was the first scientist since Archimedes to make a significant new contribution to the fields of statics and hydrostatics. He was a true homo universalis. The impact of Stevin's works has been multilateral and worldwide, and it is evident in literature, science, politics and many other fields. Given the way science works today, it would be impossible for a single individual to make meaningful contributions in as many areas as Simon Stevin did. The purpose of this book is to introduce Simon Stevin and his work to the widest possible readership. In doing so, the authors have kept to established historical facts and critically underpinned scientific insights into Stevin and his work. This is the first complete and accessible history of the work of Simon Stevin.

The Wonderful World of Simon Stevin: 'Magic is No Magic'

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

Wit Press/Computational Mechanics

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