EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS YOUNG

A. F. HORADAM
Department of Mathematics
University of New England

ABSTRACT. The purpose of the article is to describe the contributions to

Mathematics made by the thirteenth century Italian, Fibonacci. Unfortunately, not
much is known about Fibonacci's personal life. Representative problems solved by
Fibonacci are set as challenges to the reader.(1*) [Asterisks refer to FOOTNOTES
near the end of this article.]

"...considering both the originality and power of his methods, and the importance
of his results, we are abundantly justified in ranking Leonardo of Pisa as the
greatest genius in the field of number theory who appeared between the time of
Diophantus [4th century A.D.] and that of Fermat" [17th century] R.B. McClenon
[13]. [Numbers in square brackets refer to REFERENCES at the end of this
article.]

THE MAN

1. The world of Fibonacci.

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, many far-reaching changes in the
social, political and intellectual lives of people and nations were taking place.
Europe had emerged from the period of barbarian invasions and disruption known
as the Dark Ages. Improved techniques in farming had led to greater food
production, population growth and commercial expansion which were to pave the
way for the industrial, scientific and technological progress of later centuries.
Contacts with Eastern civilizations were made by the Crusaders, by curious
travellers and by merchants eager for trading opportunities.

By the end of the twelfth century, the struggle between the Papacy and the Holy
Roman Empire had left many Italian cities independent republics. Having
consolidated their military victories, many of these cities embarked on substantial
trading enterprises, and some established centers for higher learning. In particular,
ships from Genoa and Venice, laden with cargo for and from distant lands, helped
to extend the maritime dominions of these cities which became the capitals of
small empires.

Among these important and remarkable republics was the small but powerful
walled city-state of Pisa which played a major role in the commercial revolution
which was transforming Europe. A description of the many facets of the bustling
life of medieval Pisa (which is thought to have had a population of about 10,000)
may be found in Gies and Gies [4]. "Its citizens are brave", observed Benjamin of
Tudela, a Spanish Jew, "and they have neither king nor prince to whom they owe
obedience".
 Into this world of change and cross-fertilisation of Christian and Moslem
cultures, Fibonacci, a man for all seasons, was born in Pisa.

Pisa today is best known for its leaning tower (inclined at an angle of about
161/2o to the vertical). Unknown to most people is a statue in the Giardino Scotto
erected by the citizens of Pisa to its most famous citizen, Fibonacci, the most
outstanding Western mathematician of the Middle Ages and a man very much in
advance of his time.

In this progressive and energetic city, Fibonacci was born in about 1175, i.e.,
about 800 years ago, though no one knows for certain the exact date of his birth.
We take this opportunity to publicise the man and his contributions to Mathematics.

2. The young Fibonacci.

Fibonacci's father is mentioned by name by a contemporary writer as Gulielmus

(William). Not much is known about the father except that he was a state official
associated with the new mercantile class which had emerged from the commercial
revolution.

No portraits of Fibonacci exist. Possibly, the imaginative description of the

education, clothes and housing of people of medieval Pisa, as given in [4], was
applicable to Fibonacci.

All that we do know about Fibonacci is contained in a few sentences about

himself in the 1228 edition of his famous Liber Abbaci (sometimes spelt Liber
Abaci). The translation of these passages, along with the original Latin, is given by
Grimm [5] as follows:

After my father's appointment by his homeland as state official in the

customs house of Bugia for the Pisan merchants who thronged to it, he took
charge; and in view of its future usefulness and convenience, had me in my
boyhood come to him and there wanted me to devote myself to and be instructed
in the study of calculation for some days. There, following my introduction, as a
consequence of marvelous instruction in the art, to the nine digits of the Hindus,
the knowledge of the art very much appealed to me before all others, and for it I
realized that all its aspects were studied in Egypt, Syria, Greece, Sicily, and
Provence, with their varying methods; and at these places thereafter, while on
business. I pursued my study in depth and learned the give-and-take of
disputation. But all this even, and the algorism, as well as the art of Pythagoras I
considered as almost a mistake in respect to the method of the Hindus.
Therefore, embracing more stringently that method of the Hindus, and taking
stricter pains in its study, while adding certain things from my own
understanding and inserting also certain things from the niceties of Euclid's
geometric art. I have striven to compose this book in its entirety as
understandably as I could, dividing it into fifteen chapters. Almost everything
which I have introduced I have displayed with exact proof, in order that those
further seeking this knowledge, with its pre-eminent method, might be
instructed, and further, in order that the Latin people might not be discovered to
be without it, as they have been up to now. If I have perchance omitted anything
more or less proper or necessary, I beg indulgence, since there is no one who is
blameless and utterly provident in all things.
 (The port of Bugia (modern Bougie in Algeria) was a thriving source of raw
materials for furs and leather, two of Pisa's industries.)

From this tantalizingly brief glimpse of Fibonacci's life, we gain some insight
into his personality and the mathematical quality of his mind. Quite apart from the
intellectual curiosity and excitement which these passages reveal, they leave us
with a respect and warmth of feeling for the modest humility of the man.
"Leonardo's humility graces his genius", says Grimm [5].

3. Fibonacci and the Emperor Frederick II.

Fibonacci's fame as a mathematician was so great that he attracted the attention

of the Holy Emperor, Frederick II, whom his contemporaries called Stuper Mundi
("Wonder of the World"). Frederick was also King of the Two Sicilies and as such
"kept a picturesque Arabian Nights court at Palermo, enlivened by dancing girls,
jugglers, musicians, eunuchs, and an exotic menagerie", according to Gies and Gies
[4].

At Frederick's Sicilian headquarters there was an intermingling of races and

cultures. The Emperor, one of the most remarkable men of the Middle Ages,
encouraged learning and scholarship of every kind, having a special interest in
Mathematics and Science. We are told that Frederick himself conducted scientific
experiments with incubating ovens to study the development of a chicken embryo
and that he sealed the eyes of the vultures to determine whether they found their
food by sight or smell. Furthermore, he wrote a book on falconry which contained
valuable information on birds.

Fibonacci corresponded with two of the Emperor's scholars, Master Theodore

and Michael Scott (whom Dante, in his Divina Commedia, consigned to hell as a
wizard for perpetuating "magical frauds").

A meeting was arranged between Fibonacci and Frederick at the Emperor's

palazzo in Pisa, Frederick bringing with him an imposing retinue of people and
animals. Frederick, who was about 30 years old, is described [4] as "athletic-
looking and of medium height, with reddish-blond hair and piercing blue eyes
which are said to have made his courtiers tremble".

Mathematical questions for Fibonacci to solve were proposed by a scholar,

Master John of Palermo. According to some writers, a mathematical tournament
between Fibonacci and other mathematicians took place, but this does not seem to
have been the case.(2*) Three of these problems are given later (§§7, 8) when I
deal with Fibonacci's mathematical writings. At the time of his meeting with
Frederick in the 1220's, Fibonacci was probably at the height of his prowess.

4. The last years.

The last we hear of Fibonacci is in a document issued by the commune of Pisa

in 1240. This granted an annual honorarium of 20 Pisan pounds, plus expenses, for
community services to "the discreet and learned man, Master Leonardo" [4].

No one knows when Fibonacci died nor under what circumstances his death
occurred. Within a few decades of his death, Pisa was disastrously defeated by
Genoa in the grim naval battle of Meloria and the decline of his native city had
irreversibly begun. The proud inscription on Pisa's "golden" sea gate, "Love
justice, ye rulers of the earth!" became a nostalgic memory of past grandeur.

What did Fibonacci look like? Did Fibonacci marry? Did he have any children?
What was the state of his health? his wealth? What were his political views? To
what extent, if at all, did he rely on the works of the Greeks (e.g. the (now) lost
books of Diophantus)? It is a great pity indeed that we do not know more about this
remarkable man.

THE MATHEMATICIAN

5. Fibonacci's works.

The mathematical writings of Fibonacci known to us and their dates are [2]:
Liber Abbaci (The Book of Calculation), 1202 (1228);
Practica Geometriae (The Practice of Geometry), 1220;
Liber Quadratorum (The Book of Square Numbers), 1225;
Flos (The Flower), 1225;
Letter to Master Theodore (cf. §3).

In my discussion of his works, I shall endeavour to show some of the types of

mathematical problems Fibonacci solved, and to indicate something of the
originality and ingenuity of his approach. From time to time, I shall propose some
of Fibonacci's simpler problems as challenges to the reader. Answers to these
problems (with comments) will be published in a later issue of The Australian
Mathematics Teacher. Thus, I allow myself the luxury of vicariously playing the
role of John of Palermo to the reader's Fibonacci! Many of these problems are
chosen so as to be within the grasp of interested high school students.

6(a). Liber Abbaci: Hindu-Arabic numerals.

In 1202, Fibonacci's hand-written account, Liber Abbaci, of his new

mathematical experiences arising from the contacts he made on his Mediterranean
travels was completed in Pisa. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any trace
of this original version. The monumental revised edition, dedicated (3*) to Michael
Scott (§3), was compiled by Fibonacci in 1228, and this is the one we know.(4*)
"Its publication", say Gies and Gies [4], "was a landmark in both the history of the
Middle Ages and the history of mathematics".

Though the title of the book suggests the use of the abacus, in fact Fibonacci
freed arithmetic from calculations using the abacus. He did this by introducing to
Western Europe in a clear, comprehensive and independent way, the new Hindu-
Arabic numerals which had been successfully used in the Middle East and the
Orient. McClenon [13] states that the Liber Abbaci was the "greatest arithmetic of
the middle ages and the first one to show by examples from every field the great
superiority of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system over the Roman system
exemplified by Boethius" (the arithmetic most generally taught throughout Europe
before the thirteenth century).

It was not, however, the first book written in Europe to use and explain the new
numerals, nor did it achieve the popularity of later, more elementary descriptions
such as that of the thirteenth century English schoolman, Sacrobosco (John of
Halifax).

Fibonacci's Liber Abbaci begins (page 2 of [2]) with the simplest but profound
statement:

The nine Indian figures are :

987654321

With these nine figures, and with the sign 0 ... any number may be written, as
is demonstrated below.

With regard to the symbol 0 "which in Arabic is called zephirum" (quod arabice
zephirum appellatur [2]), we note that the words cipher and zero come from the
Arabic.

In the Liber Abbaci, Fibonacci explains (sometimes tediously) the nature of the
Hindu-Arabic numerals, their use in calculations with integers and fractions, and
their applications to practical commercial problems relating to weights and
measures, bartering, interest and money-changing. In the remainder of his book,

Fibonacci is more concerned with theoretical, rather than practical, problems, e.g.
Series and Proportions, the Extraction of Square and Cube Roots, the use of the
Rule of False Position, the Method of Casting out Nines (for checking calculations),
and other techniques discovered by the Hindu and Arab mathematicians. Finally, he
deals with geometry and algebra. For ease in calculation with the new numerals,
Fibonacci provides tables for the four arithmetical operations.

Recall that the symbols "+" and "-" were not invented until the fifteenth century
while "÷" appeared in the seventeenth century. Following precedent and necessity,
Fibonacci writes out these operations in words or else illustrates his calculations
with diagrams. There being no algebraic symbolism available to him, Fibonacci
uses res (thing) for the unknown x, and for x2 he writes quadratus numerus
(square number).

While discussing the merits of the new system of numeration, Fibonacci also
makes reference to the then current Roman numerals for comparison, and to the
sexagesimal system of the Babylonians. Not everyone, however, accepted the
usefulness of these Oriental symbols. For example, in 1299, Florentine merchants
issued an ordinance prohibiting the use of Hindu-Arabic numerals because it was
too easy for an unscrupulous person to write a sum of money, say 1000 lire, as
1999 lire. Such a fraudulent alteration was impossible in Roman numerals.

To give something of the flavour of Fibonacci's work we quote [4] the following
theoretical and commercial problems:

PROBLEM 1 (The Lion and the Pit: De leone quite erat in puteo). A pit was 50
handbreadths in depth: A lion climbed up the pit 1/7 handbreadth every day and fell
back 1/9 handbreadth. How long would it take him to get out of the pit?

(We recognize this as a variant of the familiar Frog-in-the-Well brain teaser.

Problem 1 and Problem 2 (below) occur on pages 177 and 398 respectively of [2].)

PROBLEM 2 (Birds and Towers). Two birds start flying from the tops of two
towers 50 feet apart, one 30 feet high, the other 40 feet high, starting at the same
time and at the same rate. They reach the center of a fountain between the towers
at the same time. How far is the fountain from each tower?

PROBLEM 3 (A Voyage). A certain man doing business in Lucca doubled his

money there, and then spent 12 denarii. Thereupon, leaving he went to Florence;
there he also doubled his money, and spent 12 denarii. Returning to Pisa, he there
doubled his money and spent 12 denarii, nothing remaining. How much did he have
in the beginning?

PROBLEM 4 (An Inheritance). A man whose end was approaching summoned his
sons and said: "Divide my money as I shall prescribe." To his eldest son, he said,

"You are to have 1 bezant and a seventh of what is left." To his second son he
said, "Take 2 bezants and a seventh of what remains." To the third son, "You are
to take 3 bezants and a seventh of what is left." Thus he gave each son 1 bezant
more than the previous son and a seventh of what remained, and to the last son all
that was left. After following their father's instructions with care, the sons found
that they had shared their inheritance equally. How many sons were there, and
how large was the estate?

For further problems from Liber Abbaci, see[4], Appendix 1.

 A hardy perennial recreational problem occurring in Fibonacci's book, which
may have been suggested by a similar problem in the ancient Egyptian Rhind
papyrus (written by the scribe Ahmes) tells us that:

seven old women went to Rome; each woman had seven mules; each mule
carried seven sacks; each sack contained seven loaves; and with each loaf were
seven knives; each knife was put in seven sheaths.

(This is reminiscent of the childhood jingle: "As I was going to St. Ives, I met a
man with seven wives, . . . ".)

6(b). Liber Abbaci: number theory.

Besides the emphasis on the Hindu-Arabic numerals, Fibonacci's other main

contribution in the Liber Abbaci was in number theory.

A third type of problem, familiar to many mathematicians and associated with

the Chinese, is the remainder problem. Fibonacci asks, and correctly answers,
these problems:

PROBLEM 5 (Remainder Problems).

(i) Find a number which is divisible by 7 and which gives a remainder of 1 when
divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.

(ii) Find a number which is a multiple of 7 having remainders of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

when divided by 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

6(c). Liber Abbaci: the Fibonacci sequence.

In Chapter 12 of the Liber Abbaci (pages 283-4 of [2]), Fibonacci states the
problem which involves the famous sequence with which his name is irrevocably
linked (Quot paria coniculorum in uno anno ex uno paro germinentur):

A certain man put a pair of rabbits in a place surrounded by a wall. How many
pairs of rabbits can be produced from that pair in a year if it is supposed that
every month each pair begets a new pair which from the second month on
becomes productive?

Since Fibonacci's time his sequence (which was not important to him) has
generated nearly as many research papers as it has hypothetical rabbits! For the
history of the work on the sequence until about 1920 we might consult Dickson
[1]. Since the foundation of the Fibonacci Association in San José, California, in
the 1960's, and the production of the Fibonacci Quarterly (a journal devoted to the
study in integers with special properties) there has been an orgy of creativity in
which this author has shamelessly participated.

It is not my intention to detail properties of the Fibonacci numbers and of the

related Lucas numbers which are well-documented elsewhere. For readable
information on these fascinating aspects of Mathematics, see Hoggatt [7], Jarden
[11], Lucas [12] and Vorobev [15]. Readily accessible material on the Fibonacci
numbers may be found in past issues of The Australian Mathematics Teacher in
articles by Guest [6], Horadam [8]-[10] and MacDonald [14].

Current research in modern extensions of Fibonacci's ideas is to be found in

issues of the Fibonacci Quarterly [3] which began in 1963.

7. Liber Quadratorum.

Dedicated to Frederick II (§3), this brilliant book was written by Fibonacci after
his Liber Abbaci. In it, Fibonacci shows his mathematical prowess in solving
Diophantine problems (named after Diophantus, the fourth century A.D.Greek
scholar who lived in Alexandria). His problems involve second degree equations in
two or more unknowns, the solutions for which are required to be given as
integers or rational numbers. Such problems are not easy, particularly when one
wishes to generalise solutions and when the algebraic symbolism Fibonacci needed
was not at his disposal.

It has been stated [4] that

The Liber Quadratorum, a book with less immediate influence and narrower
scope than the Liber abaci, was nevertheless an even greater masterpiece, more
original and involving subtler reasoning, a systematically arranged, well-conceived
collection of theorems many of them written by Leonard [Fibonacci], others
discovered from Indian or Arabic sources, but using proofs which were the product
of Leonard's own ingenuity.

McClenon [13] says:

The usual method of proof employed is to reason upon general numbers

which Leonardo represents by line segments. He has . . . no algebraic symbolism,
so that each result of a new operation (unless it be a simple addition or
subtraction) has to be represented by a new line. But for one who had studied the
'geometric algbra' of the Greeks, as Leonardo had, in the form in which the Arabs
used it, this method offered some of the advantages of our symbolism; and at any
rate it is marvelous with what ease Leonardo keeps in his mind the relation
between two lines and with what skill he chooses the right road to bring him to the
goal he is seeking.

Fibonacci obtains results which are equivalent to:

It is claimed [13] (5*) that this last result should be called "Leonardo's
Theorem" as it was not definitely stated in any earlier work. Results (ii) and (iii)
are attributed by Proclus to Pythagoras and Plato respectively.

Fibonacci was stimulated to compile his Liber Quadratorum by consideration of

one of the problems proposed to him by John of Palermo (§3):

PROBLEM 6. Find a square number which, being increased or diminished by 5,

gives a square number.

An extension of PROBLEM 6 is:

 Find a number which, being added to, or subtracted from, a square number,
leaves in either case a square number.

McClenon [13] remarks that Fibonacci's proof of this is "so very ingenious and
original" but long and that "It is not too much to say that this is the finest piece of
reasoning in number theory of which we have any record, before the time of
Fermat".

The following problems of Fibonacci are left to the reader (see [13] for others):

PROBLEM 7. Find a number of the form 4xy(x + y)(x - y) which is divisible by

5, the quotient being a square. (Fibonacci calls a number of this form a congruum.)

PROBLEM 8. Solve in rational numbers the pair of equations

x2 + x = u2, x2 - x = v2.

The Liber Quadratorum concludes with the problem of solving in rational

numbers the equations

Fibonacci obtains x = 3 1/5, y = 9 3/5, z = 28 4/5. Better still, he obtains integer

solutions x = 35, y = 144, z = 360.

Fibonacci goes on to say [13]:

And not only can three numbers be found in many ways by this method but
also four can be found by means of four square numbers, two of which in order, or
three, or all four added together make a square number . . . I found these four
numbers, the first of which is 1295, the second 4566 6/7, the third 11417 1/2, and
the fourth 79920.

The MS of Liber Quadratorum ceases fairly abruptly at this point. The rest is
silence.

8. Flos (The Flower).

In this short work (the title of which might suggest that algebra is the "flower of
Mathematics"), Fibonacci describes inter alia two of the Diophantine problems he
worked on at the court of the Emperor Frederick (§3). These are, in our phrasing:

PROBLEM 9. Solve x3 + 2x2 + 10x = 20.

(Fibonacci recognises that Euclid's method of solving equations by square roots

would not work and devises an original method of his own, giving his answer in
(Babylonian) sexagesimal notation. His approximation was far more accurate than
those of his Arab contemporaries.)

PROBLEM 10. Three men owned some money, their shares being 1/2, 1/3, and
1/6. Each took some money at random until none was left. The first man then
returned 1/2 of what he had taken, the second 1/3 and the third 1/6. When the
money now in the pile was divided equally among the men, each possessed what
he was entitled to. How much money was in the original store, and how much did
each man take?

9. Practica Geometriae (The Practice of Geometry).

This substantial, well-written book (with its rigorous proofs) contains several
chapters of mainly Euclidean theorems which represent "a considerable advance
over the Geometry of
Boethius and Gerbert (Pope
Sylvester II)" [4].

It is worth noting that, in

1915, R. C. Archibald based
his Euclid's Book on Division
of Figures (a restoration of
Euclid's lost work) on
Woepeke's French translation
of an Arabian MS, and on
Fibonacci's Practica
Geometriae.

THE IMPORTANCE OF
FIBONACCI

From Fibonacci's
commercial problems we can
learn much about the society
in which he lived. For
instance, the sociologist and
economist can discover that
pepper was a very important
item of merchandise
transported by Pisan ships,
and that the Pisan colony in
Constantinople traded
extensively with Egypt.
Further evidence is also
gleaned about the relative
values of money coined in the
mints of different cities, and
about the problem of alloying of coins to be minted.

After Fibonacci's death, his influence languished for many centuries and indeed
Mathematics made no real progress for 300 years.

What is the legacy we have inherited from Fibonacci?

Hindu-Arabic numerals were obviously relevant to the expanding commerce-

oriented society of his day. Of greater importance was the long-range impact on
Science and Mathematics of the new system of numeration which he publicised.
 The quality of his mind is evident in the techniques he used to demolish the
more challenging problems he encountered. Yet few latter-day mathematicians
recognised his brilliance, possibly because of the forbidding barrier placed in their
way by his untranslated Latin, coupled with his relative obscurity.

Apart from the statue to his memory in the Giardino Scotto [it was formerly
there; see above for the present location], Fibonacci's name is perpetuated in two
streets, the quayside Lungarno Fibonacci in Pisa and the Via Fibonacci in Florence.
Few people know of these minor memorials.

Strangely, Fibonacci is best remembered by the sequence which bears his name
but which, ironically, he treated only lightly. Modern mathematicians, in naming an
Association, a Journal, and a Bibliographical and Research Centre after Fibonacci,
ensure that his name will not easily be forgotten.

Some recent research publications which owe their original stimulation to

Fibonacci's sequence are:

Carlitz, L., "Reduction Formulas for Fibonacci Summations", Fibonacci Quarterly

Vol. 9, No. 5, Dec. 1971, pp. 449-467;

Hoggatt, V. E., "Generalized Zeckendorf Theorem", Fibonacci Quarterly, Vol. 10,

No. 1, Jan. 1972, pp. 89-93;

Shannon, A. G., and Horadam, A. F., "Generating Functions for Powers of Third
Order Recurrence Sequences", Duke Mathematical Journall, Vol. 38, No. 4, Dec.
1971, pp. 791-794;

Subba Rao, K., "Some Properties of Fibonacci Numbers - I", Bulletin of Calcutta
Mathematical Society, Vol. 46, No. 4, 1954, pp. 253-257.

As has been truly said [4] of Fibonacci, he is "one of the world's great
intellectual pioneers". Further, Boyer, in A History of Mathematics, appropriately
assesses Fibonacci's capability in these words: "It is true that he was without a
worthy rival during the 900 years of medieval European culture".

A generation wiser than his own (or ours) with a deeper sense of enduring
values may have been bestowed on him the accolade: Stupor Mundi.

FOOTNOTES

(1) The subject of our article is known variously as Leonard(o) of Pisa,

Leonardus Pisanus, Pisano, Leonard Fibonacci, or, more widely, Fibonacci. It is
this last name which we will use. Fibonacci is thought to be a contraction of Filiorm
Bonacci ("of the family of Bonacci") or Filius Bonacci ("son of Bonacci"). [He is not
to be confused with that other famous Leonardo, the universal genius from Vinci.]
Another name by which Fibonacci is known is Leonardus Bigolius, "bigollo" being a
Tuscan dialect word roughly translatable as "absent-minded" [4].

(2) Public problem-solving mathematical contests have been known. One such
"tournament" occurred in 1535 between Antonio Maria Fior from Venice and
Niccolo Tartaglia from Brescia, which was won easily by Tartaglia.
 (3) Preceding the dedication is the Latin introductory heading: Incipit liber Abaci
Compositus a leonardo filio Bonacij Pisano In Anno, MCCVIII .

(4) This 1228 edition (the only complete printed edition) is one printed by
Baldassarre Boncompagni [2] in Rome in the period 1857-1862. While
Boncompagni knew of the existence of six manuscripts containing Fibonacci's
autobiography, he based his edition on only one manuscript, "the handsome but
frequently badly faded Coventi Soppressi C.I. 2616, dated to the early fourteenth
century" [5]. This manuscript is now located in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale
in Florence. Translation of Fibonacci's "spare Latinity" is made difficult by slight
variations in the 6 manuscripts (which Grimm in his translation collated) and by the
fact that Fibonacci wrote 13th century Tuscan Latin.

In a recent communication to me, Professor Grimm comments: "The best MS is

in Siena and it is from this one (and it may be the oldest) that a new text should
start." Because of the great complications involved in a scholarly translation of
Liber Abbaci, it will be some years before an English version of Fibonacci's work
can be expected.

(5) This claim is also made on p.233 of Gino Loria's Storia delle Matematiche,
1950. However, Carl Boyer, on p.283 of A History of Mathematics, 1968, asserts
that these identities "had appeared in Diophantus and had been widely used by the
Arabs. Fibonacci, in some of his problems and methods, seems to follow the Arabs
closely". In Book III Problem 19 of his Arithmetica ("To find four numbers such
that the square of their sum plus or minus any one singly gives a square"),
Diophantus does assume a knowledge of these identities in the special case he
deals with. See the comments on pages 105-106 in T. L. Heath's Diophantus of
Alexandria, 1964. Fibonacci appears to have been generally influenced by the Arab
mathematicians, al-Karkhi and al-Khowarizmi, who in turn were influenced by
Diophantus.

REFERENCES

[1] Dickson, L. E., History of the Theory of Numbers, Vol. 1, 1952, pp.
393-407.

[2] Fibonacci, Scritti di Leonardo Pisano (ed. Baldassarre Boncompagni,

1857-1862).

[3] Fibonacci Quarterly, 1963-.

[4] Gies, Joseph and Gies, Frances, Leonard of Pisa and the New Mathematics
of the Middle Ages, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1969.

[5] Grimm, R. E., "The Autobiography of Leonardo Pisano", Fibonacci Quarterly,

Vol. 11, No. 1, February 1973, pp. 99-104.

[6] Guest, J., "A Variant to Fibonacci's Sequence", A.M.T., Vol. 16, No. 1, 1960,
pp. 11-15.

[7] Hoggatt, V. E., Fibonacci and Lucas Numbers, Houghton Mifflin, 1969.
 [8] Horadam, A. F., "Pythagorean Numbers and Fibonacci Sequences", A.M.T.,
Vol. 17, No. 2, July 1961, pp. 32-35.

[9] Horadam, A. F., "Fibonacci and his wonderful numbers", A.M.T., Vol. 19, No.
3, November 1963, pp. 54-60.

[10] Horadam, A. F., "Individual Study for Forms V and VI - Fibonacci

Numbers", A.M.T., Vol. 22, No. 2, July 1966, p. 44.

[11] Jarden, D., "Recurring Sequences", Riveon Lematematika, Jerusalem, 1966.

[12] Lucas, E., Theorie des Nombres, Blanchard, 1961.

[13] McClenon, R. B., "Leonardo of Pisa and his Liber Quadratorum", American
Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 26, No. 1, January 1919, pp. 1-8.

[14] MacDonald, T. H., "Deriving Properties of the Fibonacci Sequence",

A.M.T., Vol. 29, No. 4, 1973, pp. 235-238.

[15] Vorob'ev, N. N., Fibonacci Numbers, Pergamon. 1961.