The guy who first formalized this system, also known as “the father of accounting” (they still have CPA conventions in his hometown!), was a Franciscan friar named Luca Pacioli. He was born outside Florence in 1447 and led a very full life. He was a brilliant, peripatetic man who taught and wrote in Venice, Bologna, and Milan. He wrote a treatise on magic that included the first instructions for card tricks, juggling, and fire eating. He gave lectures on Euclid. He wrote books about algebra, chess strategy, and geometric form and perspective. The latter was illustrated by his collaborator and
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