This paper looks at a well-known story illustrating geometrical progression through the multiplication of a grain or a piece of gold on the squares of a chessboard. While originally connected to the invention of chess, the story appears and is referred to in different contexts at different times (biography, ancient history, poetry, technical literature) and seems to find its way into Europe already in the thirteenth century. The paper examines the different aspects of this story highlighted in various contexts and attempts at tracing its presence across lands and times.
The Grain on the Chessboard : travels and meanings / L. Osti - In: Le Répertoire narratif arabe médiéval : transmission et ouverture : actes du colloque international qui s'est tenu à l'Université de Liège du 15 au 17 septembre 2005 / [a cura di] F. Bauden, A. Chraïbi, A. Ghersetti. - Genève : Droz, 2008. - ISBN 978-2-87019-295-5. - pp. 231-252
The Grain on the Chessboard : travels and meanings
L. OstiPrimo
2008
Abstract
This paper looks at a well-known story illustrating geometrical progression through the multiplication of a grain or a piece of gold on the squares of a chessboard. While originally connected to the invention of chess, the story appears and is referred to in different contexts at different times (biography, ancient history, poetry, technical literature) and seems to find its way into Europe already in the thirteenth century. The paper examines the different aspects of this story highlighted in various contexts and attempts at tracing its presence across lands and times.
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