"One of the most wholesome tendencies in the study of mathematics today is the desire to give increased attention to the history and genesis of the subject. This tendency has led to a more careful study of the works of the old Greek mathematicians Of these Pappus of Alexandria was among the last, and from the point of View of the historian one of the most important because it is in his works that we have the only authentic account of a large number of preceding mathematicians."
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J. H. Weaver, "Pappus, Introductory Paper" (Apr 24, 1915) Bulletin (new Series) of the American Mathematical Society (1917) Vol. 23 p. 127.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/History_of_mathematics
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History of mathematics
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