• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2009

Dutch mathematician Simon Stevin published De Thiende(The Tenth) in 1583. In that book Stevin suggested new numerical notation which could express all numbers. That new notation was decimal fraction system. In this article I will argue that Stevin invented new decimal fraction system with two main purposes. The explicit purpose was to invent a new system which could be used easily by practical mathematicians. The implicit purpose which cannot be found in De Thiende alone but in his other writings was to break the Aristotelian tradition which separated geometry and arithmetic which dealt continuous magnitude and discrete numbers respectively.

• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.249-262
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• 2015

Simon Stevin, a mathematician active in the Netherlands in early seventeenth century, parlayed his mathematical talents into improving navigation skills. In 1605, he introduced a technique of calculating the distance of loxodrome employed in long-distance voyages in his book, Navigation. He explained how to calculate distance by 8 different angles, and even depicted how to make a copper loxodrome model for navigators. Particularly, Stevin clarified in the 7th copper loxodrome model on the unique features of equiangular spiral curve that keeps spinning and gradually accesses from the vicinity to the center. These findings predate those of Descartes on equiangular spiral curve by more than 30 years. Navigation, a branch of actual mathematics devised for the survival of sailors on the bosom of the ocean, was also the first step to the discovery of new mathematical object.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.121-134
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• 2011

Stevin is known as the inventor of decimal fractions, even though many mathematicians had the concept of decimal fractions and used it before Stevin. Why? To respond to such a question, we studied about its significance which 'La Disme' had in the history of mathematics. These can be summarized as its notational aspect, the manner of developing the book, the conceptual revolution and the practical purpose. And the chapter and verse of are little known when compared to its reputation. So in this paper we considered its contents in detail and discussed some didactical implications in relation to teaching and learning of decimal fractions in elementary school : importance of place values, similarity of calculation to natural numbers, using common fractions to justify, emphasis on the applications of decimal fractions, relation to measuring units, necessity of teaching number sense, using notational aspects.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.445-458
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• 2010

This study intends to investigate the process of the development of quantity concept and how to deal with the quantity calculus in elementary school, and to find out the implication for improving the curriculum and mathematics textbooks of Korea. There had been the binary Greek categories of discrete number and continuous magnitude in quantity concept, but by the Stevin's introduction of decimal, the unification of these notions became complete. As a result of analyzing of the curriculum and mathematics textbooks of Korea, there is a tendency to disregard the teaching of quantity and its calculus compared to the other countries. Especially multiplication and division of quantity is seldom treated in elementary mathematics textbooks. So these should be reconsidered in order to seek the direction for improvement of mathematic teaching. And Korea's textbooks need the emphasis on the quantity calculus and on constructing quantity concept.