Fun_People Archive
27 Jun
An algorism

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Sun, 27 Jun 99 10:01:28 -0700
To: Fun_People
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Subject: An algorism

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From: Wordsmith <wsmith@wordsmith.org>

algorism (AL-guh-riz-uhm) noun

   1. The Arabic system of numeration; the decimal system.

   2. Computation with Arabic figures.

[Middle English algorisme, from Old French, from Medieval Latin algorismus
after Muhammad ibn Khwarizmi-Musa Al-.]

   "And other mathematical phenomena need to be explored for their role in
   determining how mensural systems were designed, particularly the schemes
   of 'harmonic numbers' which crop up in Vitry's correspondence with
   Gerson.  Christopher Page has also recently drawn our attention to the
   stimulus of developments in algorism and computus ...."
   Lefferts, Peter M., Mensuration and Proportion Signs: Origins and
   Evolution (book reviews), Music & Letters, Feb 1995.

   Here is another example of algorism. -Anu (-:
   "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative
   in creating the Internet." -Al Gore, US Vice President (in a CNN
   interview March 9, 1999).
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