ABSTRACT
Although there is no clear evidence, it is believed that decimal fractions may have first been developed and used in China in around the first century BC, from there spreading to the Middle East [2, 3]. The textbook Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections (1247 AD), by Chinese Southern Song dynasty mathematician Qin Jiushao (1202-1261), describes decimal fractions. In Europe, they probably did not appear until the 14th century . A French Jewish mathematician and astronomer, Immanuel Bonfils (c. 1300-1377), published astronomical tables and methods of decimal arithmetic including decimal fractions around the year 1350 [3].
