Funeral Wisdom of the World

In 1446 a child was born in a small Italian town of Tuscany. Parents named him Luca but we know him by his full name - Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli, who was destined to become a great Renaissance man, brilliant mathematician and close friend of another genius Leonardo da Vinci. 

Luca taught mathematics to Leonardo, he even collaborated with him on some sci-fi designs of future helping him with precise calculations. He wrote multiple treatises on many subject starting with chess and ending with magic. Yet, incredibly, this is not why Luca de Pacioli stayed forever in the annals of the history.  Without anybody’s help he invented the system of accounting as we know it today.  Our modern accounting follows in details the same principles invented by Luca Pacioli over five hundred  years ago.  This is why we call Luca de Pacioli - Father of Accounting. 

In 1494 he published a huge digest and guide to existing mathematical knowledge.  And the bookkeeping was only one of five topics covered in his work.  In to this topic he managed to fit practically most of the accounting cycle as we know it today. Among all, he described and codified double-entry accounting system, the use of journals and ledgers, accounting ethics and cost accounting. He presented us with understanding of assets, liabilities, capital income and expenses and described preparation of the balance sheets and income statements. 

Pacioli lived to be seventy years old and died in 1517 in the town of Sansepolcro.  Its worth mentioning that this shy franciscan friar Luca helped Leonardo to lay out his grandiose painting The Last Supper with mathematical precision. Grateful da Vince in his turn illustrated Pacioli’s books on mathematics.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS