Finding Fibonacci

In 2001, Stanford mathematician Keith Devlin set out to research the life and legacy of the 13th-century mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, popularly known as Fibonacci. Leonardo introduced the Hindu-Arabic numeral system and arithmetic to the Western world and thereby helped start a global, social, and economic revolution. Devlin recounted Leonardo’s story in his 2011 book The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution. In a simultaneously published companion ebook, Leonardo and Steve: The Young Genius Who Beat Apple to Market by 800 Years, Devlin drew remarkable parallels between the careers of Leonardo and Apple’s Steve Jobs. In this talk, he will share excerpts from his latest book, Finding Fibonacci, which features stories from three other contemporary scholars as well as Devlin’s firsthand account of his experiences in uncovering the story of the long-forgotten medieval mathematician who did so much to create the world we live in.

Speaker: Keith Devlin, Co-Founder, Executive Director, and Senior Researcher, H-STAR Institute, Stanford

Room 105