Gerbert of Aurillac

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Gerbert of Aurillac

c. 945-1003

French mathematician and astronomer who ascended to the papacy as Sylvester II. Having spent time in Spain, he took part in the transmission of Arabic science to the west, although his own work in mathematics was not original. He tended to list theorems without explaining how they were proved. In astronomy he used models rather than depending on textbooks and is credited with one of the earliest mechanical clocks.

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