“Denominate numbers” in mathematics school textbooks by Stefan Banach

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to analyzing the role of “denominate numbers” in textbooks for Polish schools, whose author or co-author was Stefan Banach. Banach used the concepts of “number” and “denominate number” in his textbooks. The ways of introducing these concepts, as well as the associated manner of understanding numeration, are analyzed in the paper. The methods of manipulating “denominate numbers” through various procedures are also discussed. The analysis is carried out in the context of the Polish ministerial ordinances related to teaching mathematics and the content of other textbooks, especially those used by Banach as a secondary school student.