A dialogue on the use of arithmetic in geometry: van Ceulen's and Snellius's Fundamenta Arithmetica et Geometrica (Q990262)

The main interest of this paper is \textit{Arithmetische en Geometrische Fondamenten} by Ludolph van Ceulen (1540-1610) and its Latin translation \textit{Fundamenta Arithmetica et Geometrica} by his student Willebrord Snellius (1580-1626), both from 1615. The author of the paper (which is an abridged and somewhat modified version of a part of her Ph.D. thesis) shows that Snellius not only translated, but adapted and commented on the Dutch original so that the translation can be seen as a dialog between representatives of two different approaches to mathematics in the early modern period: Snellius' humanist approach and Van Ceulen's practitioner's approach. Snellius dedicated the translation to his relative Aemilius Rosendalius (1557--1620), a lawyer at the provincial high court. This paper explains the dynamics resulting from competing agendas of Van Ceulen's widow (reputation of her husband, and financial interest) and Snellius who wanted to use the translation for furthering his own career (to become a regular professor and get an increase in salary, as well as to ensure Van Ceulen's reputation, for his own sake). Van Ceulen's work collected much of the standard knowledge in arithmetic and geometry, a summary of results from Euclid's \textit{Elements}, but also contained innovations, such as an original introduction of the use of numbers in geometry, then basic arithmetic and calculations with roots given as line segments, etc. Some of the problems treated are solved with the aid of numbers, while others are solved using trigonometry or algebra. Snellius's Latin translation has extra features, such as corrected errors, changed formulations of problems and elaborate commentaries and a number of his own mathematical inventions. The pupil sometimes approved of his teacher's approach, but sometimes he expressed doubts in their value. Snellius does mathematics, but also talks about mathematics, such as in his dedicatory letter -- about usefulness of mathematics, the use of numbers in geometry and Book X of Euclid's \textit{Elements} (devoted to the theory of the commensurability and incommensurability of magnitudes); he did not have a positive view of Book X and concluded that it should be disposed of, at least in education. In the dedicatory letter, Snellius promoted the style of Van Ceulen, namely that of geometrical problem solving made more efficient by means of numbers, by developing a compact theoretical framework for it, leaning on earlier work by Ramus and Stevin. The author also gives a few interesting examples illustrating differences and similarities between the teacher and his student, in constructing arithmetical operations with line segments of given length such as \(\sqrt{28}+4\) and \(3\sqrt{19}\). The paper ends with bibliography of 29 primary and secondary sources.