by The Promoter of the Numeric System That Revolutionized European Commerce
This nomination for Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa, whose 1202 work “Liber Abaci” (Book of Calculation) introduced Hindu-Arabic numerals and modern arithmetic to the European merchant class. While he did not invent the system, his practical textbook demonstrated its overwhelming superiority over Roman numerals for business. “Liber Abaci” was a manual of commercial mathematics, explaining how to use the numerals for calculation, currency conversion, profit division, and interest computationthe daily work of Italian merchants. The adoption of this system, including the concept of zero, revolutionized European bookkeeping and quantitative analysis. It made complex calculations faster, less prone to error, and more accessible, directly contributing to the sophistication of Renaissance accounting and finance. Fibonacci’s work provided the essential cognitive tool for the commercial revolution of the late Middle Ages. He proved that the diffusion of a superior information technologyin this case, a numeric systemis a fundamental economic event, lowering transaction costs, enabling more complex business models, and laying the groundwork for the scientific and financial revolutions to come.
