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'Adam Ries' (
1492 –
March 30,
1559) was a
German mathematician. He is in some places better known by the name Adam 'Riese'; scientists and historians however point out that the correct spelling of his name is 'Ries'.
A native of
Staffelstein in
Franconia, Ries worked, among other places, in
Erfurt and
Annaberg, where he headed schools of mathematics. He published three books on calculation:
A fourth book of his, "Coss" (
1524) on
Algebra could not be published when it was written. The manuscript was first printed in
1992 by the publisher B.G. Teubner.
Adam Ries did not publish his books in Latin, the usual practice at the time, but in German. This way he reached a wider audience and, like
Martin Luther, contributed to the unification of the
German language.
The major impact of bringing the methods of mathematics to the common people is paid tribute to in the still-used phrase ''"nach Adam Riese"'', meaning ''"according to Adam Riese"'', which is used when noting a simple arithmetic, e.g. ''zwei und zwei macht, nach Adam Riese, vier'' (''two plus two is, according to Adam Riese, four'').
Ries died in Annaberg.
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