On parts of parts and ascending continued fractions : an investigation of the origins and spread of a peculiar system / by Jens Høyrup.
Abstract:
'The following article deals with two particular ways to denote fractional numbers, one of them multiplicative (parts of parts') and the other multiplicative-additive (àscending continued fractions'). They turn up in sources from several cultures and epochs, but as a standard idiom only in Arabic mathematics, where their occurence has been amply described. In certain other contexts (Babylonia, High and Late Medieval Europe) their occasional presence has been taken note of though rarely investigated systematically. Finally, a few scattered occurrences in Ancient Greek and Egyptian sources have not been commented upon until this day.'
Centaurus Vol. 33 (1990), p. 293-324