The Babylonian Theorem: The Mathematical Journey to Pythagoras and Euclid

The Babylonian Theorem: The Mathematical Journey to Pythagoras and Euclid
Автор
 
Год
 
Страниц
 
280
ISBN
 
159102773X
Категория
 
Новинки академической литературы Америки - 2010

Описание:

In this sequel to his award-winning "How Mathematics Happened", physicist Peter S Rudman explores the history of mathematics among the Babylonians and Egyptians, showing how their scribes in the era from 2000 to 1600 BCE used visualisations of how plane geometric figures could be partitioned into squares, rectangles, and right triangles to invent geometric algebra, even solving problems that we now do by quadratic algebra. Using illustrations adapted from both Babylonian cuneiform tablets and Egyptian hieroglyphic texts, Rudman traces the evolution of mathematics from the metric geometric algebra of Babylon and Egypt - which used numeric quantities on diagrams as a means to work out problems - to the non-metric geometric algebra of Euclid (ca. 300 BCE). Thus, Rudman traces the evolution of calculations of square roots from Egypt and Babylon to India, and then to Pythagoras, Archimedes, and Ptolemy. Surprisingly, the best calculation was by a Babylonian scribe who calculated the square...

Похожие книги

Small HousesSmall Houses
Автор: Nicolas Pople
Год: 2005
Final Fantasy IVFinal Fantasy IV
Год: 2011
Dolphin SquareDolphin Square
Год: 2011
Chrono CrossChrono Cross
Год: 2011