Simon Stevin (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsimɔn ˈsteːvɪn], 1548 – 1620), sometimes called Stevinus, was a Flemish mathematician, physicist and military engineer. He was active in a great many areas of science and engineering, both theoretical and practical. He also translated various mathematical terms into Dutch, making it one of the few European languages in which the word for mathematics, wiskunde (wis + kunde i.e. "the knowledge of what is certain"), was not a loanword from Greek but a calque via Latin.
Very little is known with certainty about Stevin's life and what we know is mostly inferred from other recorded facts. The exact birth date and the date and place of his death are uncertain. It is assumed he was born in Bruges since he enrolled at University of Leiden under the name Simon Stevinus Brugensis (= Simon Stevin from Bruges). His name is usually written as Stevin, but some documents regarding his father use the spelling Stevijn (pronunciation sti:vaɪn ). This is a normal spelling shift in 16th century Dutch. He was born around the year 1548 to unmarried parents, Anthonis (Anton) Stevin and Catelyne van der Poort. His father is believed to have been a cadet son of a mayor of Veurne and a member of the schuttersgilde (city militia) Sint-Barbara of Bruges. While Simon's father was not mentioned in the book of burghers, the fact that he was a member of the militia allows a safe assumption that he was. Many other Stevins were later mentioned in the Poorterboeken (burgher registry books). Simon Stevin's mother Cathelijne (or Catelyne) was the daughter of a wealthy family from Ypres. Her father Hubert was a poorter of Bruges. Simon's mother Cathelijne later married Joost Sayon who was involved in the carpet and silk trade and a member of the schuttersgilde Sint-Sebastiaan. Through her marriage Cathelijne became a member of a family of Calvinists and Simon was likely brought up in the Calvinist faith.
Simon Stevin (ISSN 0037-5454) was a Dutch language academic journal in pure and applied mathematics, or Wiskunde as the field is known in Dutch. Published in Ghent, edited by Guy Hirsch, it ran for 67 volumes until 1993. The journal is named after Simon Stevin (1548–1620), a Flemish mathematician and engineer.
In 1994 a second series was started from volume 1 under the title Bulletin of the Belgian Mathematical Society, Simon Stevin, and publishes mainly in English. Volumes of the second series are available from Project Euclid: Bulletin of the Belgian Mathematical Society.
The editor is Hendrik Van Maldeghem.