Ancient Mathematics in Egypt
According to [1], about 3,500 years ago (around 1,500 BC), Ahmes the Moonborn wrote a book called How to Obtain Information About All Things Mysterious and Dark. The things “mysterious and dark” was mathematics. It already covered fractions, multiplication and division (including of fractions), calculating the area of a circle (remember? pi=3.1415…), square or triangle (not just a triangle with one right angle, any triangle), volume of some shapes. See [1], page 31.
About a millennium later, some of this knowledge was popularized by a Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras. We still associate some of this knowledge with his name. By the way, did you know that Pythagoras served as an Egyptian priest for many years in the Upper Egypt?
[1] Science in Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Woods – Franklin Watts, 1998, ISBN 0-531-15915-9
About a millennium later, some of this knowledge was popularized by a Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras. We still associate some of this knowledge with his name. By the way, did you know that Pythagoras served as an Egyptian priest for many years in the Upper Egypt?
[1] Science in Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Woods – Franklin Watts, 1998, ISBN 0-531-15915-9
Labels: Book review, Egypt
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home