Fibonacci (fi – son – of Bonacci), born as Leonardo of Pisa in 1175, was a mathematician whose contributions laid the groundwork for modern mathematics and forever changed the way numbers were understood and used in Europe.

As the son of a merchant, he grew up in a world of commerce and travel: his father’s work in Bugia (modern-day Béjaïa, Algeria) exposed Fibonacci to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. This system, vastly more efficient than Roman numerals, fascinated him and inspired the mathematical works for which he is remembered today.