Luca Pacioli

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Luca Pacioli

c. 1445-1517

Italian mathematician also known as Lucus Paciuolo. A Franciscan friar and something of a traveler, Pacioli became professor of mathematics at Perugia, Rome, Naples, Pisa, and Venice. He produced a number of large volumes of material on many topics. While these books contained little original material, they offered masterful summaries of the mathematics known at the time. His work provided a basis for later developments to build on. He published an important edition of Euclid's work and co-wrote a book with Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).