This engineer is Simon Stevin (Bruges 1548-The Hague(?) 1620). In 1581 he moved from Flanders to Leyden for a study at the university. His career ran successfully, for in 1590 he was appointed adviser of Maurits. Maurits, a man with great influence, was William of Orange´s son, commander of the Dutch troops in the war against Spain (1568-1648) after the murder of William.

People in Holland in our days remember his name, because he invented Dutch words for many scientific Latin or Greek/Latin words. The Dutch equivalent of the English word geometry for instance is meetkunde, literally "art to measure". One of Stevin's most important works is "De thiende" (1586), a study in which he showed the advantage of decimal fractions, with the proposition to introduce them, and his message succeeded.

Simon Stevin