Adam Ries Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Adam Ries
Adam Ries in his 58th year of age, his only contemporary portrait
Born	17 January 1492 Bad Staffelstein
Died	30 March 1559 (1559-03-31) (aged 67) Annaberg
Nationality	German
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics

Adam Ries (born January 17, 1492 – died March 30, 1559) was a famous German mathematician. You might also hear him called Adam Riese. He taught many people how to do math, especially with numbers, which was a big deal back then!

Life of Adam Ries
- Adam Ries's Family
- Adam Ries's Works
Adam Ries's Name
Honours and Monuments
Postage Stamps
Images for kids
See also

Life of Adam Ries

We don't know much about Adam Ries's early life or where he went to school. We're not even sure of his exact birth year. A portrait of him from 1550 says he was 58 years old then. This means he was likely born in 1492 or 1493.

Adam Ries was born in a town called Staffelstein. His father, Contz Ries, owned a mill there. His mother was Eva Kittler.

Adam Ries first appeared in official records in 1517. By 1509, he was living in Zwickau with his younger brother, Conrad. Later, in 1518, Ries moved to Erfurt. There, he opened his own school for mathematics. He also wrote and published two of his math books in Erfurt.

Around 1522 or 1523, he moved to Annaberg. This was a new town built for mining. Adam Ries lived there for the rest of his life. In 1524, he finished writing his algebra textbook, Coß. This book wasn't published until much later, in 1992.

In Annaberg, Adam Ries met Anna Leuber. They got married in 1525. That same year, he became a citizen of Annaberg and bought a house. He worked checking the calculations for the mines, first as a Rezessschreiber and later as a Gegenschreiber (a type of bookkeeper). He also became a Zehntner, which was a regional financial manager. In 1539, he bought a small castle outside of town called "Riesenburg". Adam Ries died on March 30, 1559.

Adam Ries's Family

Adam Ries and his wife, Anna, had at least eight children. Three of their five sons, Adam, Abraham, and Jacob, also became mathematicians. Many of Adam Ries's descendants still live in the Ore Mountains area today. There's even a group called the Adam-Ries-Bund that researches his family tree. They have found more than 20,000 direct descendants!

Adam Ries's Works

Adam Ries wrote several important math books. What's special is that he wrote them in German, not Latin. Most scholars at that time wrote in Latin. This made his books easier for everyday people to understand.

Here are some of his famous books:

Rechnung auff der linihen (1518): This book taught people how to calculate using a calculating board, which was like an abacus. The second version was even made especially for children!
Rechnung auff der linihen und federn... (1522): This book explained how to do math using both the calculating board and the new Indian/Arabic numbers (the numbers we use today). It was written for business apprentices and craftspeople. This book was printed 114 times!
Coß (written in 1524, printed in 1992): This was an algebra textbook. "Coß" was the old German word for the unknown number in an equation. This book helped connect older math ideas with modern algebra.
Ein Gerechent Büchlein/ auff den Schöffel/ Eimer/ vnd Pfundtgewicht... (written in 1533, printed in 1536): This book had tables to help people calculate everyday prices. Adam Ries said it helped "the poor common man not be cheated when buying bread." It's also known as the "Annaberger Brotordnung" (Annaberg Bread Order).
Rechenung nach der lenge/ auff den Linihen vnd Feder. (1550): This book is often called "Practica" for short. It was the first book to show a portrait of Adam Ries. This portrait is the only picture we have of him from his lifetime.

Adam Ries's Name

In Adam Ries's time, people didn't always spell names the same way. So, you might see his name spelled "Ris," "Rise," "Ryse," or even "Reyeß."

Today, people use both "Ries" and "Riese." You might hear the German saying "nach Adam Riese". This means "according to Adam Ries" and is used when talking about simple math. For example, "two plus two is, nach Adam Riese, four."

Honours and Monuments

Adam Ries has been honored in many ways.

An asteroid, 7655 Adamries, was named after him in 1997.

Annaberg

1893: A bust (a sculpture of his head and shoulders) by Robert Henze was put up in Annaberg. This first bronze bust was melted down during a war. It was replaced with a sandstone copy. After some damage, a new sandstone bust was placed in 1991.

Staffelstein

1874: A plaque was placed in the Town Hall.
1959: A sandstone relief (a sculpture carved into a flat surface) by Karl Potzler was added to the Town Hall.
1980: A bronze relief by Hubert Weber was placed at a bank.
1990: Another bronze relief by Huber Weber was placed in front of a different bank.
1992: A bronze plaque was put at the entrance of a bank, where Adam Ries's birth house is thought to have been.