When we talk about the history of mathematics one thing that often gets forgotten is that from its beginnings right up to the latter part of the Early Modern Period almost all mathematics was developed to serve a particular practical function. For example, according to Greek legend geometry was first developed by the ancient Egyptians to measure (…metry) plots of land (geo…) following the annual Nile floods. Trade has always played a very central role in the development of mathematics, the weights and measures used to quantify the goods traded, the conversion rates of different currencies used by long distance traders, the calculation of final prices, taxes, surcharges etc. etc. A good historical example of this is the Islamic adoption of the Hindu place value decimal number system together with the associated arithmetic and algebra for use in trade, mirrored by the same adoption some time later by the Europeans…