Measuring Areas of Rectangular Fields

Abstract

A set of twenty-five solved problems and twelve theorems comprise the two parts or Methods of Chapter 1. In Part I all of the problems focus on finding areas of fields given dimensions in one, two, and/or three different units of measurement, which make the multiplication complex. Fibonacci’s method for multiplication most probably reflects the method common to Pisa, if not much of the Mediterranean world. A crucial factor is one’s ability to move rapidly among the various units, just as a modern person would be expected to move easily among the various metric or English units.