MATHEMATICIAN

Pope Sylvester II

938 - 1003

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Pope Sylvester II (Latin: Silvester II; c. 946 – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Moorish and Greco-Roman arithmetic, mathematics and astronomy, reintroducing to Western Christendom the abacus, armillary sphere, and water organ, which had been lost to Latin Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. He is said to be the first in Christian Europe (outside of Al-Andalus) to introduce the decimal numeral system using the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Pope Sylvester II is the 36th most popular mathematician (up from 40th in 2019), the 214th most popular biography from France (up from 285th in 2019) and the 9th most popular French Mathematician.

Pope Sylvester II is most famous for introducing the Gregorian calendar, which replaced the Julian calendar.

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Among MATHEMATICIANS

Among mathematicians, Pope Sylvester II ranks 36 out of 1,004. Before him are Gerolamo Cardano, François Viète, Kurt Gödel, Luca Pacioli, Niels Henrik Abel, and Brahmagupta. After him are Georg Cantor, Apollonius of Perga, Augustin-Louis Cauchy, John Napier, Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet, and Eudoxus of Cnidus.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 938, Pope Sylvester II ranks 1. After him are Romanos II, Sancho II of Pamplona, García Fernández of Castile, and Beatrice of France. Among people deceased in 1003, Pope Sylvester II ranks 2. Before him is Erik the Red. After him are Pope John XVII, Gregory of Narek, Athanasius the Athonite, At-Ta'i, Rozala of Italy, Vladivoj, Duke of Bohemia, Herman II, Duke of Swabia, and Beatrice of France.

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In France

Among people born in France, Pope Sylvester II ranks 214 out of 6,770. Before him are Jean-Marie Le Pen (1928), Charles IV of France (1294), Henrik, Prince Consort of Denmark (1934), Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour (1810), Petronius (27), and Erik Satie (1866). After him are Charles the Bold (1433), Jacques Cousteau (1910), Jeanne Calment (1875), Henri Rousseau (1844), Frédéric Passy (1822), and Louis XI of France (1423).

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Among MATHEMATICIANS In France

Among mathematicians born in France, Pope Sylvester II ranks 9. Before him are Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1717), Henri Poincaré (1854), Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749), Joseph Fourier (1768), Évariste Galois (1811), and François Viète (1540). After him are Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789), Urbain Le Verrier (1811), Abraham de Moivre (1667), Sophie Germain (1776), Marin Mersenne (1588), and Émilie du Châtelet (1706).

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