born 1548, Bruges, Flanders
died 1620, The Hague, Holland
Flemish mathematician.
In 1585 Stevin published a small pamphlet, La Thiende ("The Tenth"), in which he presented an account of decimal fractions and their daily use. Though he did not invent decimal fractions and his notation was clumsy, he established the use of decimals in day-to-day mathematics.