He Brought Arabic Numerals from N Africa to Europe

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Alan Hirshfeld, Counting On Progress; Roman numerals were fine for adding and subtracting. Fibonacci saw that complex math required a better system. Wall Steet Journal, July 7, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304569504576403860686782154.html
(book review on Keith Devlin, The Man of Numbers; Fibonacci's arithmetic revolution. Walker, 2011)

Note:
(a) Catch 22
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_22
(a novel by the American author Joseph Heller, first published in 1961; section 1 Concept)
(b) Saw V
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saw_V
(a 2008 horror film and sequel to the 2004 film Saw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saw_(film)
)
(c) Arabic numerals
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_numerals
(developed by Indian mathematicians, adopted by the Persian mathematicians in India, and passed on to the Arabs further west. They were transmitted to Europe in the Middle Ages)

Quote: "The reason they are more commonly known as 'Arabic numerals' in Europe and the Americas is that they were introduced to Europe in the 10th century by Arabs of North Africa, who were then using the digits from Libya to Morocco. Europeans did not know about the numerals' origins in ancient India, so they named them 'Arabic numerals.'  Arabs, on the other hand, call the system 'Hindu numerals,' referring to their origin in India.

(d) Presumably "Liber Abbaci" and "maestro d'abbaco" are Latin.

The "maestro" is Italian for "master." And the "abbaco" is Italian for "abacus."
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abbaco

I know neither Latin not Italian. But "liber" (which gives us the word library) is Latin for "book" (The English adjective "liberal" is derived from Latin liber "free.")

(e) Fibonacci
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci
(c 1170-c 1250)
(f) Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
(1194-1250; was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages; based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem; However, his enemies, especially the popes, prevailed, and his dynasty collapsed soon after his death)

(g) expository (adj): "of, relating to, or containing exposition <expository writing>"

exposition (n):
": a setting forth of the meaning or purpose (as of a writing)
2a : discourse or an example of it designed to convey information or explain what is difficult to understand
* * *
3: a public exhibition or show"

Definitions 1 or 2a is the meaning in this review.

(h) For Renault's Alexander, see The Persian Boy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Persian_Boy
(a 1972 historical novel written by English writer Mary Renault)
(i) For Graves's Claudius, see I, Claudius
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Claudius
(a 1934 novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius; adapted by the BBC into an award-winning 1976 television serial, I, Claudius)
(j) cipher (n; Middle English, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic ṣifr empty, cipher, zero): "ZERO"
--