Juan de Ortega (born Palencia, Spain, c. 1480; died c. 1568), [1] was a Spanish mathematician. He wrote some of the earliest works on commercial arithmetic, and discovered an improved method for calculating square roots.
Very little is known of Ortega's life. [2] He was a member of the Dominican Order in Aragon, [2] and he taught arithmetic and geometry in Spain and Italy. [1]
For his work on arithmetic Ortega drew on that of Boethius and of 13th-14th century mathematicians. [1]
A widely known [3] publication among Ortega's works was Tratado subtilissimo de Aritmetica y de Geometria ("Most refined treatise on arithmetic and geometry") (Barcelona, 1512). The work was published in Spain, France and Italy, and translated into several languages. [2] The Tratado was innovative [3] in focusing on the practical, in particular commercial, application of arithmetical and geometrical techniques. [2] In later editions [4] this work also introduces a novel approximation method for calculating square roots, [5] which appears to be largely based on the Pell equation and thereby the best available technique, [6] even though no general solution of this equation is known to have been found until much later. [1]
Another textbook by Ortega was Cursus quattuor mathematicarum artium liberalium ("Course of four mathematical arts") (Paris, 1516). [1]
Another textbook by Ortega was "Conpusicion de la arte de la arismetica y juntamente de geometría" [7]
Juan de Ortega (born Palencia, Spain, c. 1480; died c. 1568), [1] was a Spanish mathematician. He wrote some of the earliest works on commercial arithmetic, and discovered an improved method for calculating square roots.
Very little is known of Ortega's life. [2] He was a member of the Dominican Order in Aragon, [2] and he taught arithmetic and geometry in Spain and Italy. [1]
For his work on arithmetic Ortega drew on that of Boethius and of 13th-14th century mathematicians. [1]
A widely known [3] publication among Ortega's works was Tratado subtilissimo de Aritmetica y de Geometria ("Most refined treatise on arithmetic and geometry") (Barcelona, 1512). The work was published in Spain, France and Italy, and translated into several languages. [2] The Tratado was innovative [3] in focusing on the practical, in particular commercial, application of arithmetical and geometrical techniques. [2] In later editions [4] this work also introduces a novel approximation method for calculating square roots, [5] which appears to be largely based on the Pell equation and thereby the best available technique, [6] even though no general solution of this equation is known to have been found until much later. [1]
Another textbook by Ortega was Cursus quattuor mathematicarum artium liberalium ("Course of four mathematical arts") (Paris, 1516). [1]
Another textbook by Ortega was "Conpusicion de la arte de la arismetica y juntamente de geometría" [7]