Ein gemeyn leycht buechlein. On the didactics of Adam Ries' second arithmetic textbook in comparison with Widmann's ``Behende vnd hubsche Rechenung'' (Q649529): Difference between revisions

Resolving a simple arithmetic exercise in Germany, it is common practice to use the saw: ``Das macht nach Adam Riese\dots'' (according Adam Ries). The question comes up wherefore even today we use the name of this ``Rechenmeister'' (specialist for calculating), teacher and writer of textbooks (1492 -- 1559), even though during the Early Modern History there were some other respectable writers of textbooks about calculating with numerals. Peter Gabriel takes a systematic look at the didactic benefits of Ries' book ``Rechnung auf der linien vnd federn.'' (Calculations with Computing Table and Numerals) by comparing it to contemporary textbook by Johannes Widman . ``Behende vnd hubsche Rechnung.'' (Fast and fine calculations). The article is divided into five chapters: (1) Arithmetic, teaching and textbooks during the Early Modern History; (2) Content and composition of Ries' and Widmann's books; (3) Formation of explanations and exercises; (4) Language, terminology and notation symbols; (5) Ries' didactics: basic concept of his popularity. Peter Gabriel gives three main reasons of Ries' success. Firstly Ries selected contents and exercises to the practical needs of merchants and craftsmen, secondly Ries used a fixed scheme for most subjects: definition, explanation and example, thirdly his stereotypical linguistic style helped to get through the text quickly.