Fibonacci, Leonardo

Fibonacci, Leonardo (lāōnär'dō fēbōnät'chē) [key], b. c.1170, d. after 1240, Italian mathematician, known also as Leonardo da Pisa. In Liber abaci (1202, 2d ed. 1228), for centuries a standard work on algebra and arithmetic, he advocated the adoption of Arabic notation. In Practica geometriae (1220) he organized and extended the material then known in geometry and trigonometry. The sequence of numbers 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, … , formed by adding consecutive members, is named for him; it occurs in higher mathematics in various connections. Baldassare Boncompagni edited his works (2 vol., 1857–62).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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