Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Brodie.
Page
for
Tydalls
read
Tyndalls.
2016
https://archive.org/details/b24863142
PAST.
of
Mathematics.
AND ATTRACTIONS POPULARLY
TREA TED IN THE LANGUAGE OF EVERYDAY LIFE.
ITS BEAUTIES
Crown
little
stating
to
prove that
own.
has
its
it is
He
is
pleasant moments,
of its uses
its
fascinating characteristics,
Chaldean
Science
AND AN ESSA V ON
Mathematics and the Fine Arts
BY
V. E.
JOHNSON,
B.A.
possess
what we
LONDON
GRIFFITH FARRAN OKEDEN & WELSH
NEWBERY HOUSE, CHARING CROSS ROAD
AND SYDNEY
3tCL
The Rights
of Translation
and of Reproduction
are reserved.
PREFACE.
0
The
favourable reception
my
accorded to
which
work,
little
in
in
what modern
if
and by
who preceded
us by many,
many
centuries
vi
Preface.
tion,
reflection
we moderns would
things of which
had
many
boast
have
me
German
much
scholars,
light
The
to the
Essay on
are,
French, and
East.
Arts
say that
so
to
It
introduction here.
CONTENTS.
OUR DEBT TO THE
PART
PAST.
I.
PAGE
Introductory The
History,
PART
II.
PART
Concluding Remarks
the Future,
1 1 I.
*79
Contents.
Vlll
I.
PAGE
Introductory,
PART
-85
II.
with the
Perspective
rest
always
Men
of
Wide
Culture
The
Value of pos-
sessing a Mathematical
and Mathematics
'
-93
Past.
I.
INTRODUCTORY.
years
was
before
our
desiring
era,
that
there
many
etc.,
as
lists,
those now-a-days
to
literature,
philosophy, cling
to
their
native
soil,
of
relations
past,
this
consciousness of
common
to
speak,
responsibility,
cannot
terest
fail
in
all
students
of
history
and de-
ages
the
the power
passions,
Intro(hLctory
now
as he
and that
the present,
man
explicable only
is
history
for there is
is,
no
history
is
the
Now,
past.
by means of
can
be
all
his
philosophical
tivation
of
the
mind.
Children
are
now
the
They may
errors
now
of
smile at
light.
Our Debt
Until a few
that the
their
years
by them, and
for
us
to
to
their
sciences,
created
owed
nothing, or
not
is
it
entirely
who had
those
To-day
them.
sole initiators of
arts,
that they
was believed
it
had been
nothing,
to
ceded
ago,
that their
literature
next
the Past.
culture
all
to
possible
out doubt,
pre-
With-
it
its full
that
had
it
it
was
in
the East
earlier developments.
its
know
to-day that,
were
nothing
We
deans,
brilliant
since
many
of their
ancient
hundred
years
ago,
this
philo-
Egyptians,
past
into
knew
of
the ancient
Chaldeans,
Introductory.
deciphering
ever
recovering
extinct
their
and
For
hieroglyphics
their
language.
fifteen
for,
remained undeciphered and unknown
on the triumph of Christianity, the idolatrous
religion of the ancient Chaldeans was regarded with pious abhorrence by the early
Christians, and so, in the course of time,
;
the
tribes.
have been,
until quite recently, lost to the world since
the Macedonian conquest of Persia.
But
who can set a limit to the powers of
Their cuneiform
human genius
of
the
Thanks
celebrated
Kermanshah
in
inscriptions
rock
Persia
to
of
the
discovery
Behistun,
at
perpendicular
in
rising
the
and
three
abruptly
languages,
Persian,
Scythian,
known
the
Mr
Our Debt
6
(after
to the
Past.
Henry) Rawlinson, a
Sir
cadet,
House
named
supplemented
Austen Layard
Norris,
coveries
of
and
clerk)
others,
to
by
the
(an
recover
and
dis-
articled
long
this
lost
Long
before
the
the people
science,
of modern
discoveries
of
old
beheld,
in
the
reign
gold
of
if
paradise.
by
of their faith.
prejudice, then
we would become
acquainted with
dis-
vie
in
and
is
lost
;
yet which
importance with
the
book of Maccabees
itself,
said.
Know
was young.'
PART
II.
Babylone
totites les
terrel
The
filled
The
kings of
Ionian
philosophers
in
astronomy
in
the
Our Debt
to the Past.
resemblance between the Egyptian arrangement, and that which other nations have
derived from the Chaldeans, to show the real
origin of the figures
zodiac temples.
And
logy
is
common
consent of
all
eastern nations
And
And
lastly,
astrology,
it
is
and that
Chaldean Science.
assigns to
intelligent
people,
and ingenious
vering
in
anciently,
in
desirous
their
of
knowledge,
speculation,
their researches,
perse-
in
Our Debt
to the Past.
(to us)
origin of things.
Each Babylonian town possessed its observatory^ and astronomer-royal, who had to
send fortnightly reports to the king.
The
passed
in
the heavens.
They compared
most
part written by order of the sovereign, and
left under his care.
Much of this has been
found on the tablets discovered at Nineveh.
The following is an example
To the king, my lord, let the gods Nabu
and Marduk be propitious, let the great gods
grant to the king, my master, long days, good
health, and a contented heart.
On the 27th
day (of the month) the moon disappeared
during the 28th day, the 29th, and the 30th,
we have continually observed the node of
their reports, for the
take place.
The
ist
The
The
stages,
Chaldean Science.
the
(Mercury),
the star
concerning which
Nabu
have previ-
to
the king,
my
her conjunction.
was
visible
know,
will
as far
we
present
at
as
deepest
interest,
The
for,
subject
if
the
is
one of
classical
Our Debt
12
to the Past.
made
their discoveries.
ASTRONOMY.
The
standard work
astrology
was
that
in
on astronomy and
seventy-two
books,
shows that
it
phases of
Venus and Mars, the conjunction of the sun
eclipses, comets, the pole-star, the
nomy
the
We
can, in fact,
the
trace
were
b.c.
Shusan)
it
Astronomy.
13
regarded
as a great pasture land, the ecliptic being
the bull of light, or the furrow of the
sky, and the stars the heavenly flock,
whose shepherd was Acturus (a Bootis).
It may be added that Tammuz represented
was
fixed,
Orion.
some Assyrian
tablets
is
that contained
lately
deciphered
Mr
Professor
and
Sayce
Mr
to
Smith
having
clay tablet
litera-
This
from which it
lonians.
copied,
is
Professor Sayce.
certainly
long
Oitr Debt
14
to the
Past.
(i.)
All that
was
fixed
was good.
He
(2.)
in
figures of
animals.
(3.)
To
fix
of their groupings.
(4.)
of
He
three,
seasons
three
From
signs to a season.
dering stars
the day
{i.e.,
their paths.
(7.)
or
Bel (Jupiter)
buried in the foundations had not been seen for 3200 years.
The reader should compare this with Genesis.
Astronomy.
And he opened
(9.)
the
great gates in
and
(i I.)
made
left.
In
mass
its
{i.e.,
a boiling.
(12.)
The
god
caused to
overcame.
(13.)
To
rise
fix
it,
Uru
(the
out,
and
also,
for
the
moon)
he
he
night
at
(17.)
On
to
begins to swell.
(18.)
And
stretches
towards
the
dawn
further.
(19.)
When
the god
Shamas
(the sun) in
Recent
this, eclipses
Our Debt
6
(20.)
(21.)
...
to the Past.
formed beautifully
to its orbit
Shamaswas
per-
fected.
The remainder
appreciable value
it
may be
of this
is
hereafter recovered, as
it is
known
work existed.
antiquity cannot be doubted, and it is
of the
first
sun,
moon, and
stars
given
the
the
in
fact
that
than
in
the
theism,
theism.
{c)
\d)
The
The
mined.
distances
(roughly)
re-
deter-
Astronomy.
the
(probably
document
that the
17
This
Pleiades).
first
16, 17)
month
into
writer
of the
first
century a.d.,
Greek
imagined
Our Debt
to the Past.
with
attached to
the
it,
fixed
on an
stars
immovably
seven in number
appointed path.
wandered
for ever
on
their
at
that
and
some
of
their
of culture and
ideas
were,
what centuries
he
entered
into
regions,
and
after
the
east.
Were
it
possible
to
collect
Astronomy.
19
of these
old
as yet quite
impossible to
fix
the
date
in
is
of,
practically,
The
Across these tablets, while yet moist, engraved cylinders were rolled, the impressions
appearing
of celestial
jectured,
of
the
be records
It may be conR. A. Proctor, that one
of the Chaldeans was to
in
general
phenomena.
says
duties
superintend the
to
construction
of
cylinders.
Our Debt
20
the
symbols
on
the
indicate
tablet.
It
to the Past.
which
should
serve
to
corresponding to each
perhaps most probable that
date
is
symbols
the
principal
figures
Among
symbols
moon, and stars.
represent
representing
Dr
Birch
corresponding to ten
figures
acal constellations.
constellations.
However
the
sun,
has detected
of
this
the zodi-
may
be,
is
enabling us
manner
in
of the foregoing
Astronomy.
21
junction with
will
obtain
that,
in
tended
all
its
probability, they
erection, as
far
as
who
superin-
astronomical
were Chaldeans
and most probably that
particular branch of the Chaldean family
which went out from Ur of the Chaldees because they would not worship the
;
and
astrology.
Petrie has pointed out that the scale marked on a plan
in the lap of one of the statues from Tell-Ho (which some
recent French excavations have unearthed), agrees with that
used in Egypt in the age of the pyramid builders. And
the pyramid of Kochome, near Sakkara, one of the earliest
Egyptian monuments, is built in steps like the seven-storied
Babylonian temples, and that this pyramid was also originally seven-storied has now, I believe, been placed beyond
a doubt.
also now know (owing to the recent discovery
of cuneiform tablets at Amarna, in Upper Egypt), that there
was an active literary correspondence, from one end of the
civilised East to the other, as early, at any rate, as 1703 B.c.
the medium of the correspondence was the Babylo 7 iian
language, correctly written.
Mr
We
Our Debt
22
the evidence
position,
as
then,
is
Past.
to the
in
early
If this
be
and
so,
favour of this
sup-
3400
(the
as
b.c,
To measure
diameter of the
of exactness the
earth,
fect
poles.
{b)
To
determine, with
same degree
the
To
as
of
a polar
star,
by means of the
well
as
suns
vary-
gave the
the E. and VV.
N. and S. line
line
they determined by means
of
an empirical knowledge of
ing
altitude.
(This
;
Euc. I. 47.
(d) The simpler laws
of
reflection
in
optics
also
ratio of
Astronomy.
23
a diameter of a circle
cumference,
known
in
to
cir-
its
other words
in
the
of
as
the
to
foretell
moon, and
known
able
Saros.
announce the
of the sun might
of
their
This
period
period,
of
which
the
Chal
were
but
little
disposed
Note
Amongst the constellations mapped out at even
remote period were Perseus, the Dragon, Eagle,
Swan, Cepheus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Orion, Great
Hydra,
Dog,
Cup,
Crow, Centaur, Wolf, Southern
Fish, Eridanus, and Argo.
It is worthy of careful notice
that the position of the ship Argo was horizontal when
culminating about 3400 B.c. As a ship may be said to be
in her natural position when on an even keel, we have in
.
this
Our Debt
24
to the
Past.
dean
astronomers had
determined this
famous cycle, as early as 2000 b.c., and,
perhaps, two thousand years earlier, is a
proof that they must have observed the
heavenly bodies with the most scrupulous
exactness
for
many
centuries
they
before
the
moon were
caused
by
that
body
by the interposition
of the body of the moon between the sun
and earth, they patiently recorded these
eclipses year after year, and century after
century, till it was at length observed that
when these eclipses had been registered for
and
a period
of
223
lunations,
or
about
18
1 1
days,
25
Astronoiny,
for,
cient to
The
Saros
is
not in
itself suffi-
know
five
planets,
(Jupiter),^
Hea
(Saturn),^
Bel
Or Nebo.
Called Shamash.
Called Sin, or Uru-ki, or Namur in the old Accadian language so Shamash is termed by them Ud, or Barbar.
Among the Hebrews, Ashtoreth denoted the Moon, and not
Venus, as among the Chaldeans. Baal or Moloch was the
Canaanite Sun-god, as Ashtoreth was their Moon-god.
Our Debt
26
compose the
with
to the Past.
zodiac.
minutes,
the year
more
the
of
Hippar-
own
by
the
observations with
those
recorded
even to
have descended
us.^
The seven
at
it was forbidden
cook food,
to
change
On these
even
to use medicine.
Ash'oiiomy.
days
in
ruling their
(i.)
(2.)
27
first
hour, as follows
the planet
Lundi).
(4.)
(5.)
Jupiters
(3.)
(6.)
dies,
Vendredi).
(7.)
il
Sabbato).
we do now.
Besides the
spoken
of,
they
universe.
tables.
And
28
With regard
is
Rawlinson.
Astronomy
29
in Virgil
Taurus
When
his
cornibus
annum
gilded
2540
cu7ii
horns.
Now,
as
far
B.C.,
back
as
fallen,
or
not
in
Taurus.
was not
derived
astronomy,
own.
doubt that
we know,
his
it
Virgils
it
was derived
think, but
originally
little
from the
Our Debt
30
to the Past.
ignorant of optics.
entirely
glass
lens
in
fact,
first
view of
with
feeble
telescopic power,
(tergiminus)
But
wings.)
it
is
possible that
these
are
of time)
might be expected
to
appear
in
A stronomy.
figures
god corresponding
the
of
It is curious,
planet.
3
to
this
and proportioned
like Saturns.^
It
is
flat,
is
we know
so ingenious as
the Chaldeans to
moreover, as
they were with the simpler laws of optics,
should have been able to construct telescopes
of sufficient power to enable them to detect
the phases of Venus,^ Jupiters satellites,
have
and
and
been,
Saturns
travellers
no doubt,
acquainted,
The
rings.
and
students
ere long
in
researches
the
bring to
East
will,
further
light
evidence on
of
these
in-
teresting questions.
Passing on
now
as to
and
The
know-
Venus
rises,
and
in its orbit
duly grows in
size.
Our Debt
32
to the Past.
them
The
There
The
of g7'avity.
by them of the
ceived
exercising
with
idea was,
some
perhaps,
sun and
con-
planets
distance
their
no reason to
to deduce from the motions of the planets
the manner in which such attraction varied,
is
still
less that
the general
principle of uni-
versal gravitation
Note
The reader desiring fuller information on The
Astronomy and Astrology of the Babylonians, should read
.
Astro 7iomy.
33
Myndius
Apollonius
of the
In
of comets.
return
where he
passage
is
In
occurs:
following
Egyptians,
predicting
the future,
these
astrologers
correctly
they
predict
quently as plenty
of the
flocks.
dearth
men
foretell
as
fre-
Earthquakes,
phenomena which
often
to
the
the
inundations,
many
unlearned
are
other
not
observations
time.
Though
geration,
close
it
observers
this
of
is
nature
as
they were,
Our Debt
34
to the Past,
case,
may
empirically have
revolution of
some comets.
Callisthenes,
sent
to
The most
marvellous
discovery of
the
That by careful
observation, extending over many, many
centuries, they should have come to the
conclusion that an eclipse of the moon was
caused by that body entering the shadow
of the earth in space, and an eclipse of
the sun by the interposition, between the
earth and sun, of the dark body of the
moon or even prior to this, that moonlight
was but reflected sunlight, are, in themselves,
of
diction
an
eclipse.
discoveries
be able
to
but to
remarkable
forward in time, and
sufficiently
stretch
anticipate,
dread
how
mysterious
eclipse,
The
phenomena,
prediction
which,
even
of
an
now.
AsU'onomy.
most minute phenomena are forewith the most rigorous exactitude, cannot
when
told
35
its
triumphant
with
filled
said a writer,
me,
point
more
that
victory.
Search,
if
It
name?
nation,
oblivion.
country,
He
has
perished; age,
name,
have been swept into
who must have been regarded
o
It
all
Our Debt
36
to the Past.
ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS.
Amongst
mid-day,
the
epochs
the true
ecliptic,
the
summer
solstice, its
and
shadow
so
plane
that,
at
just reached
the
and
of the solstices
middle
After-
A stronomical Instruments.
37
known, the
circles
spots or dots,
were substituted.
The
stick
placed in
later times
staff
placed
in
and
in
the centre
of
a graduated bowl,
staff
They
another.
also used
various
to
take
the
stars
name
),
given by the Greeks to any circular instrument for observing the altitude, etc., of the
stars.
lary sphere,
were used
graduated
altitudes,
and
rim
and a
was known
upon a
plane^ with
sights
for
as
an
taking
astrolabe
was the
and
The
in
kind
of astrolabe known to the Chaldeans appears
to have been a rather rough kind of armilbest
lary sphere.
The
Planisphere
(the
representation of
all
known
name given
for
any
or part of a sphere on
to
them
fragments
38
Our Debt
of various
planispheres
to the Past.
having been
ruins.
The
dis-
clepsedra,
water-clock,
would be
stars,
ancient Chaldeans.
OBSER VA TORIES.^
Their observatories, or ziggurats (z.^.,
mountain peak) were high pyramidal
towers of three, five, or seven stages, always
one of the three sacred numbers, three corresponding to the divine Triad; five to the
five planets
seven to the sun, planets, and
moon.
In later times, however, the number
;
The seven
stages
planets
each
if
seven
which moved, according to
spheres,
in
Chaldean astronomy, the seven
ancient
;
to
represented
planet,
or hue.
Each
fancy,
the
grounded
particular colour
Observatories.
cular planet,
Saturn
the
the
basement stage,
black,
to
third,
the
Sun
to
Venus
seventh,
silver,
to
Mars
the
golden,
;
39
fifth,
the
fourth,
yellow,
to
the
Mercury
They were
the Moon.
to
north,
exactly to the
south, east,
and
following
The South
the car-
dinal points
is
Our Debt
40
to the Past.
West
line
of the Mediterranean,
Egypt)
the coast
i.e.,
down almost
to
Kurdish Mountains)
North-East. If
we turn the map so that Babylon comes in a
perpendicular line above the Persian Gulf,
the desired effect is produced, and it becomes
apparent that the Chaldean ziggurats did
to our
to their
in orienta-
is
called
tlie
south-west.
Mathematics.
with the
semi
hypothesis
primitive
among
41
that the
home
of
primitive
this
or
people was
more anon.
MA THEM A TICS.
knowledge of the ancient Chaldeans, their knowledge of this science was, if anything, more
remarkable than their knowledge of astronomy, the science of numbers amongst
this
ancient people comparing, -in some
Turning now
respects,
to the mathematical
favourably with
our own,
The
The system
denoting
4x60=240.
Note
The great ziggurat of the seven spheres at Borsip
faced the north-east with its front. This may have some
.
Our Debt
42
to the
Past.
papyrus,
included
the
Rhind
collection
of the British
and found
in
handbook,
containing
problems in arithmetic
and
The book was written by one
geometry.
Ahrnes (Aahmesu moon-born), in the reign
of Ra-a-us (Apepa or Apophis of the Hyksos
XVIth or XVI Ith dynasty), some time before
1780 B.C., but it was founded on and follows,
to be a mathematical
an older work.
for
obtaining
things
but
it
It
the
is
italics
entitled,
Directions
knowledge of
contains, in fact,
dark
hardly any
all
Mathematics.
traced
Birch has
this
is
copied,
to
43
the original,
from which
the
b.c.,
papyrus.
Now,
B.C.,
it
and
further,
some
of the
inscriptions
Ahmes.
The
inscriptions
describe the
endowment
temple
of the
;
they
{107-88 b.c.)
but the geometrical description of them, says
a writer,
is
made 200
date
3400
B.c.
is
the
date
Again, the
(about) of the
Egypt
and thus
This
leather-roll,
treatise
into
it
is,
at
left us.
Our Debt
44
any
rate,
to the Past.
Chaldean
origin
block to calculators
the
treatment
of fractions.
(<5 )
The
solution
of simple
eqtiations
in
any
rate,
later
in
geometrical also
the
times,
latter,
and
how-
Mathematics.
45
ever,
single example.
{c)
practical
or
of a great
in
empirical
number
knowledge
of propositions
elementary Geometry,
enabling
isosceles
rectly,^
parallel-trapezium
incor-
circle
by
{cC)
Our Debt
46
to the Past,
Thus
many
beyond
far, at
any
savages,
existing
and
rate,
their
for instance,
being
a mornings work.
In
knowledge of mathematics
was, in all probability, very much more
advanced, and it is quite possible that the
Greeks were much more indebted to them
later times, their
than
^
is
commonly supposed.^
Of the
Gesch. der Math.,, p. 157) says,
performance of the Greeks in arithmetic, our judgment may
be stated shortly thus: they are in form and contents unimportant, childish, even ; and yet they are not the first steps
which science takes, as yet ignorant of her aim, tottering
It is dotage without a future
upon shaky ground.
2
Hankel {Zur
which wearies us
in these writings.
Mathematics.
47
tablet,
found
at Senkereh,
systems of notation, the decimal system arising out of the habit of counting by
means of the ten fingers the duodecimal
three,
system, acknowledged as
more convenient,
Every one
has, in the
is
but
^
little
were the
doubt,
first
think,
inventors.
^ i.e..
The Turanean Chaldeans, or Accadians, the precursors of the Chaldeans. All Turanean races have this
peculiarity
worthy of careful note that they do not care
for the decimal system of arithmetic, but count by dozens and
sixties, referring numbers divisible by 12 and 60.
This was
probably the origin of the division in Babylonia of the suns
course into 360 equal parts or degrees, and of the day into
twelve kashus^ or double hours. The natural division of the
year into twelve months made, of course, this sexagesimal
system of calculation very convenient, and it was applied to
everything measures of weight, distance, size, and capacity,
as well as time.
Our Debt
48
to the Past.
The
360 equal
parts, called degrees,
the degree into 60
equal parts, called minutes, the minute into
60 equal parts, called seconds, and the
second into 60 equal parts, called tierces,
Their system of weights and
or thirds.
measures they also derived, like us, from
a typical unit of length. This unit was the
empan, equivalent to about 27 millimetres,
Surface or square measures were
or I foot.
given by the squares of the multiples and
Babylonian
sub-multiples of the empan.
measures of capacity and measures of
weight have also been found the former
in vases of clay, the latter in bronze of
circle
into
name
of the reign-
The
ing king, and that of the examiner.
unit of weight most used was the nnna,
'
Its multiple
equivalent to 497 6 grammes.
and sub-multiple were the talent and drachma.
Mathematics.
49
and
measures (the
origin of our own) were derived from these
same Babylonian measures, and they are
said, on the authority of Aristoxenus, to
have been introduced into Greece by PythHe is also, on the authority
agoras himself.
of lamblichus, said to have introduced a
fourth, or musical proportion, into Greece
from Babylon, composed between numbers
and their arithmetical and harmonical means.
The ancient Chaldeans were, perhaps, more
advanced in these sciences than is commonly
supposed.
Much
geometry,
Greeks
says
may
Mr Gow,
of
the
later
Our Debt
50
to the Past.
many
ornamental purposes.
To a
Greek, therefore, having acquired a taste
for geometry, a visit to Chaldea would reother
may
it
is
now
generally
supposed that our present arithmetical symbols were invented by some unknown Hindu.
There is no evidence that the Greeks used
them.
The Chaldean numerals were expressed by various combinations of the
wedge, evidently originally formed, like the
Egyptian by combinations of the straight
line, the wedge or sometimes hammer-headed
appearance that this writing usually assumes
There
evidently being a later production.
were, at the same time, numbers for the
cursive
as
well
as
the
cuneiform
writing.
Natural Philosophy.
is
However
this
may
NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.
the
we
It is
birth of
auspices
natural
chiefly
philosophy,
of mechanics,
discern
under the
that science
anterior
to
all
history,
this
nation
Our Debt
52
much,
to the Past.
think, to
Amongst
inventions.
Khorsabad
was,
the
says Layard,
sculpture
of
think, a
moving of a block
of stone, placed on a cart drawn by men.
On the most ancient bas-reliefs are representations of war-chariots, testudos, and batterbas-relief representing the
This pulley
use.
is
now
in
Nahiral Philosophy.
overflow the corn lands of
but
spread
is
its
53
own
accord,
or
And Mr Rassam
site
of
Babylon,
the
Nebuchadnezzer.
In
these hydraulic
machines, used in both Chaldea and Egypt
of
we
recognise
science of the
The
the
lever,
balance,
same name.
or,
more correctly,
amongst the ancient
speak
to
existed
much
of rude
earlier.
It
construction
was, of course, at
in
first
course of time
it
delicately
They possessed
Optics,
also
some knowledge of
has
been found
in
Our Debt
54
to the Past.
David Brewster,
says
The convex
is
tolerably
side
well polished, and though
uneven from the mode in which it has
been ground, it gives a tolerably distinct
the ruins of Nineveh.
speaking of
focus,
this
the
at
the plane
Sir
lens,
distance
He
side.
of
adds
It
could not
entitled,
therefore,
to
from
inches
4i
consider
it
we
as
used to decipher
knowledge was
there
is
What
it.
in
lens
detail
has to be
their
we do
not
optical
know
as
early
acquainted.
1
The
first to
See Proctors
Great Pyramid.'
Engineering.
The
origin
made
discovery
par
to
of
Ptolemy of the
in that
science
is
who observed
the
or
Electricity,
excellence of to-day
Thales,
55
the
first
science
usually attributed
the
property by
the
to
substance,
of
Thales,
and also
traded
and
in silk,
in
it
this
would
think,
of Thales.
ENGINEERING.
From
the most
intersected
with
canals.
The
largest
of
Our Debt
56
Diodorus,
to the
Past.
was a tunnel
under the
moreover, vaulted.
there
which was,
It was cased on both sides, i.e., the bricks
were covered with bitumen the walls were
Euphrates,
The
cubits thick.
was
15 feet,
a work
existed,
should
not
have
found a small
bricks
there
is
been
represented
in
are,
such
if
no reason
why
vaulted.
Layard
not,
it
true,
is
arch on a large
traces of a vault or
Arched gateways
Indeed,
it
chamber of burnt
vaulted
Nimrod, but
at
high
feet
any
scale.
however, continually
bas-reliefs
in
the
which
are
regarded as
recent triumphs of
modern
among
the
invention.
most
Their
made
with
tubular
of bronze, the
drills,
made probably
stone coffins
Enginee ring.
57
that
circular
or
cutters
the
saws,
ancient
these
Mr
the
use of
cutting-edge
set
bowls,
Mr
with
Petries researches
seem
show
to
These
contrivances
The
subject
is
ago.
Chemistry,
think, in the
modern sense
of the word, the ancient Chaldeans could perforce know nothing, since it was not until the
Our Debt
58
to the Past.
since
date,
it
all-pervading
industrial
proceeds
of
such
as
etc.,
well acquainted.
From
in
known
to
tiquity, the
The
this
fabrication of glass
was
also
all
in
history,
substance by means of
metallic oxides, they were enabled to manufacture artificial diamonds, rubies, emeralds,
and by colouring
this
much
as to deceive even
etc.,
with so
the
eye of a connoisseiir.
pearls,
also,
skill
equally well.
They imitated
They manufac-
59
Of
means of mordants.
all
for the
cloth of divers
The
renowned.
Ezekiel
the
look
14,
with
upon
invention
of
men portrayed on
15),
of
vermilion.
to, after
weaving of
attributed
images
the
portrayed
girdle
is
(xxiii.
walls,
we
by Pliny to the
Their carpets were also most
She saw, said the prophet
cotton-weaving
Babylonians.
colours.
the
the
Chaldeans
Girded with a
the
them princes
to
They
colour.
Sol gold
Mars
is,
afid
Luna
iron, quicksilver
metals
silver, we threpe ;
Mercury, we cleke ;
Every
Note.
branch
of
metallurgy
flourished
Chaucer.
Our Debt
6o
to the Past.
And
origin of engraving.
in
we behold
the
Babylon present
is
in the ships!
MEDICINE.
medicine amongst the ancient
Chaldeans appears to have been composed
The
art of
only of a
medley of
and magical
formula;.
insignificent
receipts
6i
Medicine.
The
library of Assur-bani-pal
(664 b.c.)
has revealed to us the facts of some attempts
at a botanical
and zoological
classification.
of
manner of
those
The
life
were
there were
insects
;
Our Debt
62
to the
Past.
Some
geographical
the enumeration of
works,
consisting
known towns,
the
of
names
being accompanied by a list of the productions of the surrounding country, have been
discovered.
Geography found a
place, says
(in
first
1
A curious relic of about fifty centuries ago has just been
unearthed at Kahun, in the shape of an Egyptian will. It
is said to be so modern in form that it might pass muster in
our Probate Court of to-day. This interesting last testament consists in a settlement by one Sekhewian of all his
property and goods in favour of his brother, a priest of Osiris,
and another document in favour of his wife, Teta. The discovery of such a legal instrument shows to what an extent
in the east civilisation had grown nearly 3000 years before
the birth of Christ. The will is also valuable as proving
that, among the early Egyptians, women had the right of
holding property in their own name.
Their Motto.
63
we
in
once
error
cal
full,
;
precise,
it is,
in
knowledge.
and
free
from unconscious
Our Debt
64
In concluding
scientific
to the Past.
account of the
brief
this
we cannot omit
among
All
traordinary people.
ledge that
we know
this
ex-
have been
known to them as early as 3000 b.c., and
the greater part of it perhaps one thousand
to
years anterior to
research
has
Modern
this.
fully
to
confirmed
pre-historic
Thus,
this.
the origin
at
of science.
We
have only
Baron Bunsen said, at the halfway house. Go back as far as you may in
arrived, as
appear a people
far
advanced
in
civili-
sation.
i.e.,
more
period,
strictly
the
ancient
speaking, the
65
Chaldeans was
the
held in the greatest reverence by
they were commented on and
Assyrians
translated by the Ninevite savants, just the
same as we do the works of the Greeks and
of
language
the
ancient
cosmogonic system
has been found. According to this, the present
regulated universe was preceded by an anarchical chaos, in which Nature made its first
attempts at creation.
Composite creatures
had been formed out of the earth and the
deep like those engraved on the gems and
cylinders,
Thus
is
the past
Our Debt
66
to the Past.
cities,
and
which
tions
will
who brought
dians,
the very
tial,
first,
Chaldea
elements
Who were
of civilisation
To what
they?
mind
did they
race
belong?
was Turanian.
Even
many
abounded, contained no
sign to designate either the one or the other.
With the siofns of metals of which there are,
their
of course, no vestiges in Chaldea
lions
Altai range,
'
Accad means
As
mountains
or
highlands.
67
The Race.
many
own noma-
is
original departure.
As
to
originally
what
these
race
belonged,
it
Accadians
old
was
to
Mon-
the
monosyllables,
which
name
and primitive
partly
is
words,
type,
rudely
known
in
science by the
of agglutinative,
i.e.,
general
glued or stuck
the words, either
by declension or conjugation,
Therefore
did science and the work of civilisation
begin amongst these old Accadians, it is
to the Mongolian or yellow race that we
are indebted for the very
our civilisation
a theory
first
elements of
which,
however
it
Our Debt
68
is
to the
Past.
there
is
we
a race which
its
For
favour.
everywhere
find
at
and more
if
we
to
Adam
choose, regard
We
may,
before the
fall
typifying
sessing
(Genesis
artistic
iv.
more of the
severed
in.
and
scientific
19-20) do
skill.
we never
Why
hear any
so-called descendants of
Cain,
Land of
Exile,
The Origin of
69
Civilisation.
by
apart
its
colour
Quite
white races everywhere
for, if
in,
of their race
the
Chinese.
We
owe
pro-
Note
Speaking of the genealogies of chap. x. in
Genesis, St Augustine pointedly says that the names in it
represent nations, not men. ( Genies no7i homines} De
Civitate Dei, XVII. 3.)
.
Our Debt
70
to the Past.
and gunpov/der,
with these
many
for
European
nations were aware of their existence, and
they were, or at any rate some of them probably introduced into Europe by Marco
Paulo,
centuries before
Venetian
traveller,
who
visited
anything
them
(in
government and
laid
social
down
life)
for
3000
from
which to swerve a hairs-breadth were the
greatest blasphemy.
years ago or more, with
a strictness
yi
For the
last
now appear
to
Chaldeans.
We
1
find that, when we examine the claims of the Indians,
Persians, and Babylonians as the inventors of astronomy, we
are met by this singular coincidence their sy sterns of astronomy belong to a latitude imich higher than the latitude of
Benares., Persepolis, and Babylon, for the Brahmins teach in
their sacred books that the longest day in summer is twice
as long as the shortest day in winter, which is not the case
So also Zoroaster taught the Persians,
in any part of India.
and Ptolemy obtained ancient Babylonian records of starrisings, which belonged to latitudes certainly not lower than
the 40th parallel and in the measurement of the earths circumference adopted by ancient astronomers, it corresponds
to a latitude of about 45, and, taking into account errors of
observation, it must have been made between latitudes 35
and 55 north. Now, this latitude of about 40 north is the
very latitude in which, in all probability, the most ancient
Accadians resided previous to their descent into the plains
of Chaldea. This is, of course, a singular confirmation that
astronomy originated amongst this people.
Amongst the
names of their most ancient kings we meet with such titles
as, Defend O Sun-God,
Man of the Moon-God, Man of
Samas (i.e., the Sun), Son of Hea (Saturn), king of the
earth, Son of Bel (Jupiter), sovereign of heaven, and in
their oldest writing the sign of a star is used to express the
divine principle the deity, generally.
Moreover, that their
;
Our Debt
72
The
true.
to the Past.
We
writing
their spirits
and demons,
their first
and the
equal to
many
The commencement,
said Aristotle,
But
ies,
is
more
tions
they
did,
or
awakened the
interest of the
astronomy
73
that
we
hold dear in
The
were the
first pictures, and the sun-epic of the Accadian
Astronomy
hero, Gishubar, the first poem.
and mathematics spring almost directly from
Chaldean astrology, from which comes indirectly our interest in most of the other
and
religion.
constellations
sciences.
coveries of the
same
kind,
Our Debt
74
hastened
in their case
Poetical,
to the Past.
by other circumstances,
and,
fanciful,
like
eastern
all
The
men and
why we know
what
so
little
in
detail
real
vations,
without
discussing
how
far
R. A. Proctor.
these
modify
The Semites.
75
became
in after
who were
the
and
And
we know,
more
is
fatal
to
all
pro-
conservatism.
Little
synonymous terms.
are
The
acquisitive
rather
engaged
that
their attention.
Again, to whatever race the early Chaldeans (and Egyptians) may have belonged,
they were afterwards,
if
to,
the
Semitic
races
that
is,
There
element
by some
Now,
race
is
more developed
in the
Our Debt
76
to the Past.
nations, satisfac-
making no
Let
it
amount
power of
circumstances, by
of plasticity, or a definite
adapting
itself to different
ment
is
plastic
Crystallisation.
77
has lost
its
plasticity,
of further change.
It
environment must
ere long change, and the race, being incapable
of changing in accordance with its surroundNow, on the
ings, must inevitably perish.
other hand, spontaneous activity is an addition of something hitherto unacted upon by
the environment, and therefore capable of
change, and is, therefore, a definite increase
That mind, therefore, that would
of power.
grow, or that race or nation that would wish
to hold its own, must be creative rather than
acquisitive, allowing no ideas to become
permanent in it except those which lead to
action.
-
towards
absolute
It must, as
all
all,
admitting
all,
being
To become
opinion and
receptivity,
modified by
none.
mode
crystallised,
of thought,
is
fixed
in
to lose the
Our Debt
78
great
characteristic
to the Past.
of
life,
by which
is
it
No
bow down
discoveries
before
predecessors, as
its
greater behind
them
left
must study
it
is
the past
if
the
none
their
for the
but
it
and
none
feelings of trembling
too.,
must write
Bibles.'
PART
Reverence for
The
tJie
III.
Max Muller.
destruction,
Our Debt
8o
The
chain
to the
of tradition
Past.
has
never been
broken.
record of the
fingers
early ages
The very
letters
first
when mans
ten
with which
am
writing
The
in
its
effects,
and therefore
total.
not only
This, and nineteen
15,
310
B.C.,
Our Debt
to the Past,
sexagesimal arithmetic of the ancient Babylonians led to the current method of reckoningf
time.
And
as
sciences, so has
it
it
Language
with
composed of
all,
intel-
thought.
of
daily
traced
for
making
back,
of the Vedas.
allowances
necessary
to the
hymns
We may go
origin
of
of civilisation.
arithmetic
dates the
origin
Leibnitz,
Was
it
Cavalier or Fermat
*
Professor
Max
F
Muller.
Newton
or
was
Our Debt
82
it
to the
Past.
Look
closely,
then,
regard
there
to
exists
this
discoverer
with
difficulty
within
the
limits
We
discoveries
for
their
the
title
of sciences
discoveries,
Copernicus,
and,
but
Galileo,
science
The
to
Our Debt
83
to the Past.
pounded
to
an angel of God.
The savant of old was exultant with predicting the day on which an eclipse should
occur the modern scientist only rests satisfied when he can foretell long beforehand
;
bodies
be
in
apparent
contact.
If
and
study,
predecessors were
able to accomplish
our
in
lifetime,
for,
more than
Our Debt
84
the
heirs of
all
to the Past.
the ages.
We
who have
and tens of
toil.
Who
past,
Who
When man
far
than the
and
we
if
we
be able to
But enough could the scientific marvels of
to-day been told as a prophecy fifty years
ago, they would have dazzled even the most
in
another
fifty
years
shall
even
to
a mathematical enthusiast.
Our Debt
we
to the Past.
the
Past,
Naught
our
to
that abides in
Daunting us
85
the
it
Omvard I
debt to
Future.
'V>'
'**..
*.
\.
-. 9?
-
s'
r
I
R.
life, is
when
W. Emerson.
INTRODUCTORY.
'
The
by the
late
Matthew Arnold.
Interesting,
are,
mark
that
is,
still
ledge.
in
he says
we
are
still
we
should
But what
all
wish
when they are
I
propounded
are
it
In
And
to us,
men
there
;;
90
proposition
to
them
for
and
will
finally
bring us to those
the
And
in
a similar manner,
when
the student
can be inevery
verted into themselves, or that
rational equation has a root, or at any of
those general conceptions of the universe
just alluded to, the student of mathematics
position
that
any two
circles
Introductory.
will
still
such ques-
mathematics and
science and
poetry, painting and music, are they conhow
nected are they related or not
tions as
art,
or,
La
it
le
wait
92
the
two
Poetry, says
is
it
subsists.
Let us, then, in the following pages, endeavour to become to some extent, at any
acquainted with the open secret to the
rate
few, but the mystery and stumbling-block to
the unity of Truth, Mathematics,
the many
PART
If
II.
merson.
of years in
of antiquity,
we
at science,
at
who
mathe-
The
fragmentary,
mense gaps
and
presents
for us to
too
is
many
too
im-
when
science
94
was neglected,
maintain
more
is,
art
declined.
the
particularly in
which
All
we can
history of
Egypt,
less
development and decline of both, is a coincidence, to say the least of it, worthy inquiry.
Let us, then, see if this coincidence (we will
at present call
it
so)
still
From
we
Grecian history
sculptors,
^Eischylus,
Phidias,
Zeuxis,
great
were
that the
and poets
painters,
Pindar,
Scopas
learn
Stesichorus,
Sophocles,
Praxiteles,
Thales,
Euripides,
Apelles,
contemporaneous
mathematicians,
famous
with
and
the
Pythagoras,
95
if
not their
first,
true impulse
intellectual activity
goodness, the
Dark
mode
of induction as
portion.
Pope
Sylvester,
St
Ambrose,
g6
And
doorways, heavy
of the
pillars,
lancet-shaped,
And
nearer to
ourselves
than
this,^
we
Haroun
al
Raschid,
Thomas
structors
of the eighteenth
domestic
art,
97
of English con-
century of the
devoted
by the French
mathematician, Gaspard Mouge, who died
1818.
Let us open any book dealing with
descriptive geometry, and what do we read ?
That all the drawings must be strictly
mathematical, perpendiculars and parallels
must be accurately drawn, and all dimensions drawn to scale,
Modern investigation
descriptive geometry, invented
key
to
how
shall
the truth
the perfection
of a
of
we determine
curve
the
this
is
classic
accuracy
The
Fillet,
the
Bead,
the
Torus,
the
Scotia,
are
only
geometrical
figures,
different combination of
of geometrical curves
formed
by
98
the
arc
of
The
Echinus, the
Cyma Recta, the Cyma Reversa, and the
Scotia of the Greeks, are but combinations of
straight lines, and the arcs of conic sections,
circle.
The
Semi-circular
circle.
Enough
to
lead
than
has,
you
think,
something
suspect
to
coincidences
in
And
this.
all
so.
sider
spective.
What
more
it
is
us con-
let
that of Per-
viz.,
and
art
is
It is
of
so
and
utterly
deficient.
Why
geometry and
this
a branch
The Egyptians
optics.
is
is
of these two
little
geometry,
moderns
Hence
but
know
little
about
great
optics.
deal
about
The
both.
Per-
known
spective
some
to
extent
99
to
the
who
such
regard
as superfluous,
it
make use
the
for
of
much
more
so
for
sufficient
eye
simply impossible
it is
and
painter,
the designer, to
with
affirm-
the
sole
aid
(a
sketches
exhibited
in
fine
art
collections.
this digression.
Note.
It was, indeed, the artists eye and the artists pencil
that first taught us to see serial perspective, and it became
known
to scientific
exteriors.
artist .
We
Mathematics and
lOO
The
the
Fine Arts.
upon mathematical
and
laid
principles
at the
foundation,
appear,
And
ancient
geometry
is
construction,
to
perceive
that
;
the
cannot
do their work without a knowledge of practical geometry, for their designs are, in all
cases, constructed upon geometrical principles.
Wend your way through the streets of any
of our important towns, and, if you take particular notice of the ornaments and decorations seen on facias, on doors and gates, and
even beneath your feet, in gratings and pavements, you will at once perceive them to be
Or
but modifications of geometrical figures.
enter any of our banks, town-halls, museums,
theatres, courts of justice, or churches,
you
mosaic
in
and
geometrical
loi
which
snd
is
invariably
ceilings
lar geometrical
figures,
lastly,
windows whose
admirable decorations show how freely geometrical tracery has been used in their construction.
And, indeed, what is it but the
symetrical grouping of geometrical figures,
when reduced
to a
embodied in practical
Having thus shown the intimate
geometry.
connection which exists between mathematics
and painting, architecture and sculpture, it
remains for us to show the intimate connection existing between mathematic.s, poetry,
and music, or our theory is only half established.
This problem is more subtle, and,
before we proceed to its solution, we must
inquire into, and define exactly, what is meant
by the term mathematics, and at what stage
system,
have
been
102
of
its
said to
become mathematical.
The
and of proportion
woode,
are,
phase.
That which
phase of
a subject,
then being
precision,
-r-exactness,
the
mode
of the formulae, or other mathematical paraphernalia, may, after all, be little more than
a theatrical
that
of
The
process
really
one
of
of
transformation
reducing
abstraction,
to
the
scene.
formulae
results
is
of
103
in
cases where
subject
may,
to
not attained at
is
it
all
intents
become mathematical.
It
is
this
and purposes,
not so
which characterises
all,
much
processes
and of
proportion.
The science of mathematics is
only a language, which enables us to draw
ciples
of
precision,
of
exactness,
and
manner possible
by means of lines and symbols, and which
gives us the power of deducing truths by
means of certain operations with these lines
conclusions in the simplest
of things formerly
obscure or unknown.
The natural philosopher proposes to himself the solution of
a problem
104
If his questions
the circumstances
put,
and
{i.e.,
unknown
its
or
relations
corollaries.
think,
You
thus
will
how mathematics
stand
perceive,
connected
and
necessary
to
physical,
or,
talent
make
indeed,
observation
for
useful
discoveries
are
in
more.
becoming
She does
not,
105
but nothing
subject,
elements
From
are
issue
to
in
precise
fallibly
extract
possible
all
results.
can
in-
consequences,
whether
they
original statement.
From
infallibly
the
data
extract
of
all
possible
consequences,
'
lo6
that
modern
bodies
all
circle,
science
has fully
As
may unexpectedly
sculptor
beauty,
confirmed,
or
some grand
in
themselves
new discovered
of colouring
effect
mathematician may
find himself confronting some new beauty
and perspective, so
'the
by the discovery of
some great law, or endowing some curve,
hitherto only noticed by curious speculators,
or utilised by architects and engineers with
a higher and a nobler beauty transforming
in
nature,
revealed
the arch
of
the bridge
into
the
orbit
of
the planet or the comet, the triads of Menaechus into the architecture of the heavens.
The
characteristics
of
mathematical
between
lo/
this science
The
sculptor,
expression,
but
the
sake
trench
the
for
may
the musician
deepening
of
laws of form,
seeks higher
effects
by
as a denial of
it,
and
it
is
Nor
is
musician
in
can
its
realm.
detect
is
highly-trained
a variation
from
the
in
shade.
io8
And
as the musician
must be a mathematician,
was the
central
principle
And
What
not musical
is
cannot
be
of
Greeks,
they were
right.
is
Harmony
harmonised.
the
is
the
art.
tells
us,
because
possesses
it
is
simple,
universe was a
highest
the
The
primeval mind.
this
the
qualities,
impressions of a
little
circle
of Earths
by a star-spangled dome,
which was the floor of heaven, and which
surface arched over
hid beneath
its
caves of Hades
that this
same universe
strewn with an
infinite
is
but
infinite space,
number
of infinite
1 Even the very cords of our pianos are strung upon one of
the curves known as the conic sections.
109
When
commands
When was
had the
as at the
his imagination
When
did
Theodore Watts.
no
the
Fundamenta Nova.
Physical
one),
a writer,^
investiin reality
value
man
in
science
with-
The
been (when properly controlled by experience and reflection) the great discovering
power.
literally
His
steadfast eye,
^
Sir
David Brodie.
[are
rts.
1 1
In which he says
The imaginative faculty was lord
Of observation
natural.
it
universal
reasoning
part
of
universal
counterpoint
but that of
which accurately
universal
music,
lays
arts.
I-I
are,
well as mathematicians
The
is
well
known.
sculptors
were sent
Italy to forward
specimens of their
skill for
rts.
1 1
some design
as a specimen of Giottos
skill,
his advisers
artists
capa-
Rome
ately
summoned
work
to
his
has
Tyndall,
of
think,
that
Sebastian
believe,
1 1
that
A rts.
the science
human
progress,
and the important service which a mathematical turn of mind is capable of rendering,
even where no mathematics may be employed
or required ^ and especially has it been so
;
with regard to
When
art.
father
Pascals
says,
for
the
boy,
As we have
from which the science of mathematics proceeded, arose also^those three great religious
wished
Go
A rts.
and when
Her
worshippers.'
And from
common
for
number
all
a principle
is
ness
untutored
the
many
tical
one
knowledge,
Spottiswoode,
mans
first
the world.
straight,
in
in
then
floating in
and suggesting
minds,
new conceptions
ideas
to
It
the
crude
the
one,
to
them
the
all/
says
gave,
earliest
notions
Professor
utterances
about
to
God and
and
the
crooked,
Shelley.
which
still
16
survive
as
selves
it
moral notions of mankind, and quickened them by giving them the power of
for the
expression.
In this lies the great and enduring interest in the fragments which re-
main
The
Pythagorean philosophy,
Pythagoreans considered number to be
to us of the
The Axioms
Emerson,
Admission to
translate those of Ethics.
its sanctuary {i.e., the temple of science), and
to the privileges and feelings of a votary,
said Sir John Herschel, is only to be gained
by one means sound and siifficie^it know
of
Physics,
said
in
this
any
or
the
of
other
rts.
1 1
higher
As
will
to
be,
since
man
art
and science
science and
art,
Hunt,
History of
in his
There
is,
day,
men whose
researches as
...
in the
hand, or the
lips
are
moved
to
speak
1 1
some sudden
burst of light,
splendid apocalypse,
A rts.
shall,
THE END.
D.
COl.STON
V. T.
& s.
10.90.
The
Uses
and Triumphs of
Mathematics.
ITS BEAUTIES
AND ATTRACTIONS
POPULARLY TREATED IN
THE LANGUAGE OP EVERYDAY
Crown
LLFE.
tion
than
the
is
The author
Mor?iiug Post.
missing asteriod
Ceres,
Educational Times.
It
of 77iathe77iatical studies"
mathematical research
chester Guardia7i.
07i
is
trust)
certainly
praiseworthy.
spirit of
Ma
7 i-
laudable effort
matics').
News of the
The volume
There
Scottish Leader.
is
character.
is
(io
World.
The
book
of this
is
the plan of
Publisher^ Circular.
Mr Johnson
some
'
tiser.
and
decidedly
Standard,
more
profitable
in
every way.
Wisbech
H''*'
///
i^tA}
ku^dic^-<^ Ci^ju4^>UjA<^^
.-y.-'
>
*'
..
' .
'%
'9
/..
V;
-ly.'
.9
-W-
'