Editorial: A note on Papal Mathematics

Anthony G. Shannon
Notes on Number Theory and Discrete Mathematics
Print ISSN 1310–5132, Online ISSN 2367–8275
Volume 31, 2025, Number 3, Pages 429–432
DOI: 10.7546/nntdm.2025.31.3.429-432
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Authors and affiliations

Anthony G. Shannon
Warrane College, University of New South Wales
Kensington, NSW 2033, Australia

Abstract

Many recent media claims that Pope Leo XIV, Robert F. Prevost, born in the USA and elected in 2025 in succession to Pope Francis, is the first mathematician to become the Pope of the Catholic Church are questionable. That honour probably belongs to Pope Sylvester II (999–1003), Gerbert d’Aurillac, a Frenchman, educated in Moorish Spain which was then relatively advanced in mathematics and philosophy.

Keywords

  • Fibonacci
  • Hindu-Arabic numerals
  • Sylvester II
  • Zero

2020 Mathematics Subject Classification

  • 11B39
  • 01A30
  • 97A40

References

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Manuscript history

  • Received: 13 July 2025
  • Accepted: 25 July 2025
  • Online First: 28 July 2025

Copyright information

Ⓒ 2025 by the Author.
This is an Open Access paper distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

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Cite this paper

Shannon, A. G. (2025). Editorial: A note on Papal Mathematics. Notes on Number Theory and Discrete Mathematics, 31(3), 429-432, DOI: 10.7546/nntdm.2025.31.3.429-432.

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