Source: TU Delft
Wonder is no wonderwas his motto (Wonder; not miracle), and the 'wreath of spheres' his trade-mark.Simon Stevin(Brugge, 1548 - 1620, The Hague)wrote almost all of his works in Dutch, and he is not only famous for his contributions to diverse fields of the sciences, but also for having invented new words in this language. This site has html-versions of works by Stevin — maybe of some interest to those who want to have a quick look and do not understand Dutch (there are many figures) — and of two contemporary English translations:
Works of Stevin were online as early as 2004, see ECHO, with the motivation:
The introductions in 'Principal Works'Vol. I, Mechanics 1. Introduction, p. 3 2. Origin and youth, p. 4 3. In the Northern Netherlands, p. 5 4. Stevin's ideas on language, p. 6 5. The political background of Stevin's life, p. 8 6. Stevin and Maurice, p. 9 (fig.: 11) 7. Marriage, offspring and death, p. 12 8. Stevin's legacy, p. 13 List of works quoted, p. 15 Stevin's achievements, p. 16
A bibliography of Stevin's works, p. 25
De beghinselen der Weeghconst — The elements of the Art of weighing 1. General Introduction, p. 3 2. ... the decimal position system ..., p. 4 Tafelen van Interest — Tables of Interest 1. ... a kind of challenge to an ancient and established tradition, p. 13 2. The tables of Trenchant and of Pegolotti ..., p. 17 3. The two great money markets of Western Europe ..., p. 19 4. Stevin's initiative ..., p. 22 Title page, p. 25  Problemata Geometrica 1. Stevin's contributions to geometry ..., p. 121 2. The first book opens with ..., p. 122 3. The second book ..., p. 124 4. The third book is by far the most interesting part ..., p. 124 6. The fourth and fifth books ..., p. 128 (fig.: 130/131) Title page, p. 133 De Thiende — The Tenth 1. Stevin published his essay on the decimal division in 1585, ... p. 373 2. Stevin's achievement consists in ..., p. 376 3. After the appearance of De Thiende ..., p. 377 4. The man who must rank with Stevin ..., p. 380 5. The further history of the decimal fractions ..., p. 381 6. Stevin had yet another purpose with his pamphlet ..., p. 383 7. Two facsimile reprints ... (Note: Al-Kashi), p. 385 Title page, p. 386 L'Arithmetique — Arithmetic 1. Stevin's Arithmétique was published in 1585 ..., p. 459 2. ... divided in two books ..., p. 459 3. The second book ..., p. 461 4. The chief theoretical achievement of 16th century mathematics ..., p. 463 5. Euclid's theory of what we call linear and quadratic equations ..., p. 464 (fig.) 6. The Algebra of Al-Kwarizmi ..., p. 467 7. The mathematicians of the Christian world ..., p. 470 8. The numerical solution of the general cubic and biquadratic equations ..., p. 471 9. Stevin's theory of equations ..., p. 474 10. Another contribution ... Appendice algebraique ..., p. 475 11. Stevin's version of the first four books of Diophantus ..., p. 476 Title page, p. 477 Le Second Livre d'Arithmetique — Second Book, p. 552 La Pratique d'Arithmetique, p. 709 Appendice Algebraique, p. 740 Selections from Wisconstighe Ghedachtenissen — Mathematical Memoirs De Driehouckhandel — Trigonometry 1. Stevin's trigonometry is the first part of his cosmography ..., p. 751 2. The first part of the Trigonometry contains tables ..., p. 754 3. There exists a German translation of a part ..., p. 755 De Meetdaet — The Practice of Measuring  - Introduction, p. 764 Title page, p. 769 Example: to draw an ellipse, p. 773 De Deursichtighe — Perspective 1. ... the outcome of discussions between Stevin and prince Maurice ..., p. 785 2. There is much in Stevin's book which reminds us of Del Monte's ..., p. 790 3. Stevin was not the only author ..., p. 792 Title page, p. 795 Index, p. 967; Table of contents, p. 975; Corrigenda et addenda, p. 976 The Astronomical Works  De Hemelloop — The Heavenly Motions 1. In order to understand the place of Stevin's work on astronomical theory ..., p. 5 2. In his discussion of the orbits of the heavenly bodies ..., p. 7-21 (fig.: 17) Contents of The heavenly motions, p. 321 Van de Spiegheling der Ebbenvloet — Of the Theory of Ebb and Flow. - Historical remarks, p. 325 Summary of the work, p. 327-328 De Havenvinding — The Haven-Finding Art 1. Introduction and general remarks, p. 363 2. The place of The Haven-finding art among 16th century textbooks on navigation, p. 365 3. The contents ... of 1599 a. Stevin's "conjecture" about terrestrial magnetism, p. 367 (fig.: 368) b. The measurement of the variation of the compass according to Stevin, p. 372 c. The Latin translation, p. 375 
d. The English translation, p. 376 e. The French translation, p. 378 f. Stevins's view ... in 1608, p. 378 4. The measurement of the variation of the compass a. Before Stevin's day, p. 380 (fig.: 383-384a) b. Reynier Pietersz and his "golden compass", p. 388 5. The determination of longitude by means of the variation of the compass. a. The earliest views, p. 392 b. Mercator, p. 397 c. Plancius, p. 398 d. Stevin, p. 404 e. The evolution of the subject in the 17th and 18th centuries, p. 411 6. Appendix a. The construction and the use of the astrolabium catholicum, p. 413 (fig.: 414) b. ... of the longitude-finder of Plancius, p. 415 (fig.: 416). Title page, p. 419 Van de Zeylstreken — The Sailings 1. The contents of the treatise ..., p. 479 (fig.: 484) 2. Stevin's predecessors: Apian, Nunes, Mercator, and Wright, p. 491 3. Conclusion, p. 496 De Wijsentijt — The Age of the Sages, p. 591 - Note, p. 609: originally intended to precede The Heavenly Motions Index, p. 625; Table of contents, p. 631 1. The significance of Simon Stevin to the military science of his time, p. 3 2. Stevin's writings on the art of war, p. 5 3. Stevin, as a military adviser ..., p. 16 (fig.: 18a)  De sterctenbouwing — The art of fortification 1. Nature, lay-out and origin of the work, p. 31 2. The dedication to Hendrick van Brienen, p. 34 3. The English translation [manuscript], p. 34 4. Appreciation of Stevin's Art of fortification, p. 36 Title page, p. 39 Nieuwe maniere van Sterctebou door spilsluysen — New manner of fortification by means of pivotted sluice-locks [in Vol. V] - Discussion, p. 235 (fig.: 239-) Castrametatio, dat is Legermeting — The marking out of army camps - Introduction, p. 249 (fig.: 258a-d) Title page, p. 261 Vant belegeren der steden en sterckten — Of besieging towns and fortresses - Introduction, p. 401 (fig.: 406) Van de pyckschansen — Of pike redoubts - Introduction, p. 471 Index, p. 519; Table of contents, p. 525; map of the Netherlands, p. 526-7. Preface, p. VII The sailing chariot, p. 1 (fig. 1, 2, 3) Contents and history of the patents of Simon Stevin, p. 9 (fig. 4-12) On cogs and staves, p. 39 - Introduction, p. 41 (fig. 13) Van aldervolmaecste Cammen en staven — On the most perfect Cogs and staves, p. 47  Hydraulic engineering, p. 65 1. Introduction, p. 67 (fig.) 2. Sluices and locks, p. 69 3. Pile foundations and cofferdams, p. 75 4. The formation of peat and new land, p. 76 5. On the scouring action of water, p. 79 6. Dredging, p. 79 Nieuwe maniere van sterctebou door spilsluysen — New manner of fortification by means of pivotted sluice locks (fig. at p. 84) - Discussion in vol. IV, p. 235 Title page, p. 85 Vanden handel der waterschuyring — The essay on waterscouring, p. 201 
The drainage mills, p. 309 1. Introduction, p. 311 (fig. 20, 21) 2. Stevin's calculations of windmills, p. 316 3. Stevin's improvement of windmills, p. 322 (fig. 22) 4. His contemporaries's reactions, p. 324 (fig. 23: handwriting) [5.] The manuscripts of "on mills", p. 327 6. The location of Stevin's drainage milles, p. 329 7. Stevin's estimate of a drainage mill, p. 329 (fig. 24, fig. 25-27; plate I (figure at right: a reconstruction), Ia-c, II, IIa, III, IIIa after p. 412) Van de molens — On mills (revised by Golius, 1634), p. 335 (fig. 28) Appendix I, 380; II, 386 (summary 391); III, 393; IV, 400; V (terms), 408 Vande spiegheling der singconst — On the theory of the art of singing - Introduction. Simon Stevin's views on music, p. 415 Vita politica. Het Burgherlick leven — Civic life - Introduction, p. 467 Title page, p. 471 General Index (vol. I - V), p. 583; Contents of volume V, p. 607; Errata (I - V), p. 609 Other sources:- E. J. Dijksterhuis, Simon Stevin: Science in the Netherlands around 1600 (The Hague 1970).- D. J. Struik, The Land of Stevin and Huygens (Springer, 1981; preview). - R. Vermij, The Calvinist Copernicans (KNAW, 2002): Ch. 4, 'Simon Stevin and the tradition of practical mathematicians'. - J.T. Devreese, G. Vanden Berghe, 'Simon Stevin, Flemish tutor of a Dutch Prince' (2002). - Jozef T. Devreese, Guido vanden Berghe, 'Magic is No Magic': The Wonderful World of Simon Stevin (WIT Press, 2007). - Ch. van den Heuvel, 'De Huysbou' A reconstruction of an unfinished treatise on architecture, town planning and civil engineering by Simon Stevin (KNAW, 2006). - F. J. Dijksterhuis, 'Stevin, Huygens and the Dutch republic', in Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde, juni 2008. |
