At a broad, societal level, Russian merchants, soldiers, and officials increasingly came into contact with counterparts from the West and became familiar with the communal use of Arabic numerals. Peter also covertly travelled throughout Northern Europe from 1697 to 1698 during his Grand Embassy and was likely informally exposed to Western mathematics during this time. The Cyrillic system was found to be inferior for calculating practical kinematic values, such as the trajectories and parabolic flight patterns of artillery.
At a broad, societal level, Russian merchants, soldiers, and officials increasingly interacted with counterparts from the West and became familiar with the communal use of Arabic numerals. Peter also traveled secretly throughout Northern Europe from 1697 to 1698 during his Grand Embassy and was likely informally exposed to Western mathematics during this time. The Cyrillic system proved inadequate for calculating practical kinematic values, such as artillery trajectories and parabolic flight patterns.