PACIOLI, L.(ca. 1445-1509)

    In 1494 appeared the first printed deition of the Summa de arithmetica, geometrica, proportioni et proportionalita, usually referred to briefly as the Suma, of the Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli (ca. 1445-1509).  This work, freely compiled from many sources, purported to be a summary of the arithmetic, algebra, and geometry of the time.  It contanins little of importance not found in Fibonacci's Liber abaci but does employ a superior notation.
    Pacioli traveled extensively, taught in various places, and wrote a number of other works, not all of

which were printed.  In 1509, he published his De divina proportione, which contains woodcuts of the regular solids that were drawn by Leonardo da Vinci during the time he lived with Pacioli and received lessons in mathematics from Pacioli.