Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci is considered one of the most talented mathematicians of the Middle Ages. He is credited with introducing the Hindu-Arabic numbering system into western European culture at the beginning of the 13th century. His series of books on mathematical subjects helped revive the tradition of ancient mathematics and laid the foundation for the development of number theory. While Fibonacci's introduction of the modern day numbering system had a profound impact on the subsequent history of mathematics, his fame as a mathematician is perhaps more often associated with his development of the Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers that he derived in order to solve a riddle about the reproduction of rabbits.

Also known as Leonardo of Pisa, Fibonacci, was born sometime during the latter half of the 12th century in Pisa, Italy. His father, William Bonacci, was a merchant and a government representative of Pisa, then...