Ancient and Medieval China
● The Chinese of the Shang dynasty
1. Intro
● Oracle Bones
- The bones are the source of our
knowledge of early Chinese
number systems
● Book of Numbers and Computation
- earliest extant text of Chinese
mathematics
- consists of problems and their
solutions
● Arithmetical Classic of the Gnomon
and the Circular Paths of Heaven
and Nine Chapters on the
Mathematical Art
- played a part in the education of
the civil service at the time
● Liu Hui
- Nine Chapters on the
Mathematical Art commentary; n
added a tenth chapter, now
known as the Sea Island
Mathematical Manual
● Li Chunfeng
- Ten Mathematical Classics which
includes Arithmetical Classic of
the Gnomon, the Nine Chapters,
Liu Hui’s Sea Island
Mathematical Manual,
Mathematical Classic of Master
Sun (fourth century ce), and the
Mathematical Classic of Zhang
Qiujuan (late fifth century ce)
● these mathematical texts studied by
candidates for the civil service were
collections of problems with methods
of solution
2. Calculations
● Chinese used a base-10 system of
numbers
Number Symbols and Fractions
used a multiplicative system of
writing numbers, based on powers of
10
● red rods for positive numbers and
black ones for negative numbers
● Examples can be seen in Suan
shushu
Roots
● discussed in detail in chapter 4 of the
Nine Chapters, is the determination
of square and cube roots.
3. Geometry
Areas and Volume
● The Nine Chapters also gives the
correct formula for the volume of a
pyramid.
● four separate formulas by which the
calculation of area could be made:
1. The rule is: Half of the
circumference and half of the
diameter are multiplied together to
give the area.
2. Another rule is: The circumference
and the diameter are multiplied
together, then the result is divided by
4.
the 3. Another rule is: The diameter is
multiplied by itself. Multiply the result
by 3 and then divide by 4.
4. Another rule is: The circumference
is multiplied by itself. Then divide the
result by 12.
● Liu Hui assumed that, eventually, the
polygons will in fact “exhaust” the
circle.
● He called this intersection the
“double box-lid when he inscribed a
second cylinder in the cube
Pythagorean Theorem and Surveying
● Zhao Shuang’s commentary on the
Arithmetical Classic of the Gnomon
and Liu Hui’s commentary on
chapter 9 of the Nine Chapters
contain an argument for the theorem.
● chapter 9 of the Nine Chapters
contains many problems involving
right triangles.
● Haidao suanjing (Sea Island
Mathematical Manual)
- This is where the addendum on
more complicated problems of
surveying
- collection of nine problems with
solutions, derivations,
illustrations, and commentary
- shows how to find the distance
and height of a sea island
- Liu Hui called his method the
method of double differences,
because two differences are used
in the solution procedure.
4. Solving Equations
Systems of Linear Equations
● The Nine Chapters contained both
algorithms for solving systems
● The first method, used chiefly for
solving problems we would translate
into systems of two equations in two
unknowns, is called the method of
surplus and deficiency and is found
in chapter 7
● today called the method of “double
false position,” begins with the
“guessing” of possible solutions and
concludes by adjusting the guess to
get the correct solution. Its use
showed that the Chinese understood
the concept of a linear relationship.
● Chapter 8 of the Nine Chapters
describes a second method of
solving systems of linear equations
Qin Jiushao and Polynomial Equations
● square and cube root procedures of
the Nine Chapters to higher roots by
using the array of numbers known
today as the Pascal triangle and
extended and improved the method
into one usable for solving
polynomial equations of any degree
● Shushu jiuzhang (Mathematical
Treatise in Nine Sections)
The Work of Li Ye, Yang Hui, and Zhu
Shijie
● Li Ye
- wrote two major mathematical
works, the Ceyuan haijing (Sea
Mirror of Circle Measurements) in
1248 and the Yigu yanduan (Old
Mathematics in Expanded
Sections)
- Ceyuan haijing dealt with the
properties of circles inscribed in
right triangles
- Yigu yanduan similarly dealt with
geometric problems on squares,
circles, rectangles, and
trapezoids
● Yang Hui
- Xiangjie jiushang suanfa (A
Detailed Analysis of the
Arithmetical Rules in the Nine
Sections) of 1261 and the
collection known as Yang Hui
suanfa (Yang Hui’s Methods of
Computation) of 1275
- Suanfa contains material on
quadratic equations
● Zhu Shijie ● Islamic mathematicians used a
- Suanxue Qimeng (Introduction to technique related to Horner’s method
Mathematical Studies) in 1299 to solve polynomial equations
and the Sijuan yujian (Precious numerically
Mirror of the Four Elements) in
● Europeans eventually discovered a
1303.
- Zhu applied this elimination method of solving the Chinese
technique remainder problem fully equivalent to
5. Indeterminate Analysis Qin’s method
● Calendrical problems apparently led ● Mateo Ricci and one of his Chinese
the Chinese mathematicians to the students, Xu Guangqi (1562–1633),
question of solving systems of translated the first six books of
indeterminate linear equations Euclid’s Elements into Chinese in
Chinese Remainder Problem 1607
● The earliest example in Chinese Ancient and Medieval India
mathematics of this procedure for 1. Calculations
solving systems of linear - Indians used a base-10 system
congruences is in the Sunzi suanjing The Decimal Place Value System
(Mathematical Classic of Master
● Our modern decimal place value
Sun)
system is usually referred to as the
Hindu-Arabic system
Qin Jiushao and the Ta-yen Rule ● Our modern decimal place value
● It was Qin Jiushao who first system is usually referred to as the
published a general method for Hindu-Arabic system
solving systems of linear ● the true origins of the system in India
congruences in his Mathematical
come from the Chinese counting
Treatise in Nine Sections
board
● Qin there described what he called
● rather than just have them on the
the ta-yen rule for solving
counting board, they were forced to
simultaneous linear congruences
use a symbol, the dot and later the
6. Transmission to and from China
circle, to represent the blank column
● Chinese system influenced the of the counting board.
Indian development of our modern Arithmetic Algorithms
decimal place value system ● Aryabhata
● Indian mathematicians used a - Presented the methods of
technique involving the Euclidean calculating square and cube
algorithm to solve simultaneous roots.
congruences ● Brahmagupta
- a gave many details of
arithmetic calculation in his
 major work,
Brahmasphut.asiddhanta
(Correct Astronomical
System of Brahma)
- he present the standard
arithmetical rules
calculating with fractions
- he gave the rules for
operations on positive and
negative numbers, as well
as zero
2. Geometry
● Sulbasutras
- appendices to the Vedas
which give rules for
constructing altars.
3. Equation Solving
● Aryabhatya, provided what
amounts to the quadratic formula
in a special case
4. Indeterminate Analysis
Linear Congruences
● Indian mathematicians originated
a method for solving linear
congruences
● We accompany Brahmagupta’s
description of his method of
kuttaka or “pulverizer”
Pell Equation
5. Combinatorics
● a sixth-century work by
Varahamihira deals with a larger
value
● Mahavira gave an explicit
algorithm for calculating the
number of combinations in the
nineth century
● Bhaskara gave many other
calculations using this basic
formula and also calculated that
the number of permutations of a
set of order n was n!.
the 6. Trigonometry
● the needs of Indian astronomy
led to Indian improvements in this
field
Construction og Sine Tables
for ● Paitamahasiddhanta
- dealing with astronomy
and its associated
mathematics
- contains a table of “half-
chords”
● Sine
- represent the length of the
Indian half-chord
Approximation Techniques
● Indian mathematicians developed
methods of approximation
● Brahmagupta had developed a
somewhat more accurate
interpolation scheme using the
second-order differences
Power Series
● Determination of longitude could
also be accomplished using
trigonometry
● the more accurate the Sine
values, the more accurately one
could determine one’s location
7. Transmission
● India learned trigonometry (and
also some astronomy) from
Greek sources Islamic scholars
learned Indian trigonometry when
Indian works were brought to
Baghdad in the eighth century
● our decimal place value system
traveled from India through Islam
to western Europe
Mathematics of Islam
1. Decimal Arithmetic
- When numbers had to be written,
a ciphered system was used in
which the letters of the Arabic
alphabet denoted numbers.
 - The earliest available arithmetic
text that deals with the Hindu
numbers is the Kitab al-jam‘wal
tafriq bi h.isab al-Hind (Book on
Addition and Subtraction after the
Method of the Indians) by
Muhammad ibn Musa al-
Khwarizmi
● al-Khwarizmi
- introduced nine characters to
designate the first nine numbers
- described the algorithms of
addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division, halving,
doubling, and determining square
root
- al-Samaw’al in his Treatise on
Arithmetic of 1172, showed that
he fully understood decimal
fractions in the context of
approximation
2. Algebra
The Algebra of al-Khwarizmi and ibn
Turk
● The Condensed Book on the
Calculation of al-Jabr and al-
Muqabala
- written about 825 by al-
Khwarizmi
- a book that ultimately had
even more influence than
his arithmetical work
- al-jabr can be translated
as “restoring” and refers to
the operation of
“transposing”
- The word al-muq¯abala
can be translated as
“comparing” and refers to
the reduction of a positive
term by subtracting equal
amounts from both sides
of the equation
● the Islamic mathematicians had
decided that the necessary
geometric foundations to the
algebraic solution of quadratic
equations should be based on
the work of Euclid rather than on
the ancient traditions
The Algebra of Thabit ibn Qurra and
Abu Kamil
● Thabit noted explicitly that the
geometric procedure of
ElementsII–6 is completely
analogous to the procedure of
“the algebraists”
● Abu Kamil followed his
discussion of the various forms of
quadratic equations by a
treatment of various algebraic
rules and then a large selection
of problems.
● Abu Kamil’s algebr was written
without symbols
Al-Karaji, al-Samaw’al, and the Algebra
of Polynomials
● The process of relating arithmetic
to algebra, begun by al-
Khwarizmi and Abu Kamil
continued in the Islamic world
with the work of Abu Bakr al-
Karaji (d. 1019) and al-Samaw’al
over the next two centuries
● al-Karaji
- al-Fakhi (The Marvelous)
“the determination of
unknowns starting from
knowns.”
- In division, however, he
only used monomials as
divisors, partly because he
was unable to incorporate
rules for negative numbers
into his theory and partly
because of his verbal
means of expression.
- He developed an algorithm
for calculating square
roots of polynomials; it
was only applicable in
limited circumstances.
 - more successful in number in terms of combinations of r
continuing the work of Abu − 1 things.
Kamil in applying Combinatorics and Number Theory
arithmetic operations to ● amicable numbers
irrational quantities - a pair of numbers each of
● al-Samaw’al which equaled the sum of
- introduced negative the proper divisors of the
coefficients other.
- expressed his rules for ● IBN QURRA’S THEOREM For n >
dealing with these 1, let pn = 3 . 2n − 1, qn = 9 . 22n−1
coefficients quite clearly in − 1. If pn−1, pn, and qn are prime,
his algebra text Al-B¯ahir then a = 2npn−1pn and b = 2nqn are
fi’l-h.is¯ab (The Shining amicable
Book of Calculation) Ibn al-Banna and the Combinatorial
Omar Khayyam and the Solution of Formulas
Cubic Equations ● The author began with a known
● first systematically classified and result for a small value and used
then proceeded to solve all types it to build up step-by-step to
of cubic equations by this general higher values.
method 4. Geometry
● On the Division of a Quadrant of Practical Geometry
a Circle, in which he proposed to ● The earliest extant Arabic
divide a quadrant ABCD at a geometry is due to al-Khwarizmi
point G such that, with - His text is an elementary
perpendiculars drawn to two compilation of rules for
diameters mensuration such as might
Sharaf al-Din al-Tusi and Cubic be needed by surveyors,
Equations containing no axioms or
● he improved Al-khayyami’s proofs
methods - To determine the volume
● he began by classifying the cubic of the frustum of a
equations into several groups pyramid, calculate the
● his method of solution was the height to the top of the
same as al-Khayyam’s completed pyramid by
● the determination of the using similar triangles,
intersection point of two then to subtract the
appropriately chosen conic volume of the upper
sections. pyramid from that of the
lower.
3. Combinatorics - They were always
Counting Combinations interested in practical
● Ah.mad al-Ab’dari ibn Mun’im applications, in particular
discussed the calculation of the in how artisans could
number of combinations of r things create interesting
from a set of n by looking at this geometrical patterns; they
became proficient in doing
 theoretical constructions
that could easily be
translated into real-life
constructions.
Geometrical Cnstructions
● Abu Kamil showed, using
algebra, how to construct an
equilateral pentagon in a given
square, each of whose sides is
equal to 10.
● Abu al-Wafa’ also gave a
construction of a pentagon with a
special condition, the condition
being that the compass was a
“rusty compass,' ' one with a fixed
opening.
Parallel Postulate
● ibn al-Haytham
- (Commentary on the
Premises of Euclid’s
Elements)
- he attempted to
reformulate Euclid’s theory
of parallels
- redefining the concept of
parallel lines
● Al-Khayyami
- he began with the principle
that two convergent
straight lines intersect, and
it is impossible for them to
diverge in the direction of
convergence
Incommensurables
● Abbaci
5. Trigonometry
● To determine the appropriate
direction at one’s own location
required an extensive knowledge
of the solution of such triangles
on the sphere of the earth. The
solution of both plane and
spherical triangles was also
important in the determination of
the correct time for prayers.
Trigonometric Functions
● Early in Islamic trigonometry,
both the chord and the sine were
used concurrently, but eventually
the sine won out.
Trigonometric Tables
● The key to getting accurate
tables was, as we have seen
earlier, a method for determining
the chord
● Abu al-Wafa first calculated the
Sines by the application of the
halfangle formula and the sum
formula (as in Ptolemy’s
Almagest).
Spherical Geometry
● The major goal of trigonometry in
Islam was to solve astronomical
problems, and these mostly
required the solution of spherical
triangles.
Al-Tusi and the Systematization of
Triginometry
● He presented several proofs of
the spherical law of sines, giving
attributions to earlier Islamic
mathematicians, and, again with
attributions, several proofs of the
law of tangents
6. Transmission
● The work of Abu Kamil also
became available in Europe,
chiefly through the inclusion of
numerous problems from his
work in Leonardo of Pisa’s Liber
● The only manuscript that we
know of containing ibn al-
Haytham’s work on the volume of
a paraboloid of revolution was
acquired by the library of the
India Office in England in the
nineteenth century.
● The sine theorem and the
theorem of the four quantities,
along with some of their
corollaries, appeared in Spain, in
 the work of Abu Muhammad Jabir
ibn AflahalIshb¯il¯i (early twelfth
century).
Mathematics in Medieval Europe
1. Intro
● Despite the lack of mathematical
activity, the early Middle Ages
had inherited from antiquity the
notion that the quadrivium—
arithmetic, geometry, music, and
astronomy
● Despite the limited mathematical
sources available to Europeans
at the turn of the millennium,
scholars did know that there was
an ancient tradition in
mathematics due to the Greeks,
but it was virtually inaccessible to
them at the time
● Among the earliest of the
translating teams were John of
Seville and Domingo Gundisalvo,
who were active in the first half of
the twelfth century
● Adelard of Bath
- responsible for the first
translation from the Arabic
of Euclid’s Elements.’
- translated the
astronomical tables of al-
Khwarizmi in 1126
● Robert of Chester
- translated the Algebra of
al-Khwarizmi in 1145, thus
introducing to Europe the
algebraic algorithms for
solving quadratic
equations.
● Plato of Tivoli
- translated from the
Hebrew the Liber
embadorum (Book of
Areas) by the Spanish-
Jewish scholar Abraham
bar H. iyya, a work that
also contained the Islamic
rules for solving quadratic
equations.
● Gerard of Cremona
- credited with the
translation of more than 80
work
- new translation of Euclid’s
Elements from the Arabic
of Thabit ibn Qurra and the
first translation of
Ptolemy’s Almagest from
the Arabic in 1175
● By the end of the twelfth century,
then, many of the major works of
Greek mathematics and a few
Islamic works were available to
Latin-reading scholars in Europe.
2. Geometry and Trigonometry
● Euclid’s Elements was translated
into Latin early in the twelfth
century
Abraham bar Hiyya’s Treatise of
Mensuration
● he took over the Islamic tradition
of
● proof, absorbed from the Greeks,
and gave geometric justifications
of methods for solving the
algebraic problems he included
as part of his geometrical
discussions.
● Abraham’s work was the first in
Europe to give the Islamic
procedures for solving such
equations.
● Abraham’s most original
contribution, however, is found in
his section on measurements in
circles. He began by giving the
standard rules for finding the
circumference and area of a
circle
Practical Geometries
 ● Abraham’s Hebrew text was one earthly triangles is further
of the earliest of many practical demonstrated by two fourteenth-
geometrical works to appear in century trigonometry works
medieval Europe. ● Richard of Wallingford
● Hugh’s methods of measurement - Quadripartitum, a four-part
involved the use of the alidade, work on the fundamentals
an altitude-sighting device of trigonometry
attached to the astrolabe, which - revised and shortened this
enabled one to measure the ratio work in another treatise
of height to distance of an object entitled De Sectore.
sighted - to teach the methods
● These two twelfth-century Latin required for the solution of
geometries give us an idea of the problems in spherical
state of geometrical knowledge in trigonometry, which in turn
northern Europe of the time. was required for
● The Perfection of Any Art astronomy
- intends to show, then, the - chief source of the
practical aspects of one of Quadripartitum was the
the quadrivial subjects, Almagest of Ptolemy
namely, geometry. ● Levi ben Gerson
Leonardo of Pisa’s Practica Geometriae - roughly contemporaneous
● related to the work of Abraham with the Quadripartitum
bar H. iyya than to the Artis - It formed part of an
cuiuslibet consummatio or the astronomical treatise that
work of Hugh of St. Victor in turn formed part of a
● Leonardo began with a listing of major philosophical work,
various definitions, axioms, and Sefer Milh.amot Adonai
theorems of Euclid, including (Wars of the Lord)
especially the propositions of - based chiefly on Ptolemy,
Book II Levi generally used Sines
● Leonardo also calculated areas rather than chords
of segments and sectors of circle - he gave detailed
by a table of arcs and chords. procedures for solving
● demonstrated how to use the plane triangles
chord table to calculate arcs to - He first presented the
chords in circles of radius other standard methods for
than 21. solving right triangles and
● Leonardo used the table of then proceeded to general
chords only to calculate areas of triangles.
circular sectors and segments. - the methods were
● he calculated the lengths of the available in other Islamic
sides and diagonals of a regular trigonometries
pentagon inscribed in a circle - The methods Levi
Trigonometry presented were used only
● trigonometry in the medieval for solving astronomical
period was not used to measure
 triangles, never for solving problems, container problems,
earthly ones. the Chinese remainder problem,
3. Combinatorics and, at the end, various forms of
● The earliest Jewish source on problems solvable by use of
this topic seems to be the quadratic equations
mystical work Sefer Yetsirah - Leonardo demonstrated his
(Book of Creation), how to complete command of the
calculate the number of algebra of his Islamic
combinations of letters taken two predecessors as he showed how
at a time to solve equations that reduce
The Work of Abraham ibn Ezra ultimately to quadratic equations.
● an astrological text that ibn Ezra - resenting tenth-century Islamic
discussed the number of possible mathematics and ignoring the
conjunctions of the seven advances of the eleventh and
“planets” (including the sun and twelfth centuries.
the moon) - provide Europe’s first
Levi ben Gerson and Induction comprehensive introduction to
● Maasei Hoshev (The Art of the Islamic mathematics
Calculator) Liber Quadratorum
- a first theoretical part in ● by Leonardo
which every theorem ● a book on number theory, in
receives a detailed proof, which Leonardo discussed the
and a second “applied” solving in rational numbers of
part in which explicit various equations involving
instructions are given for squares
performing various types ● the practical material in the Liber
of calculation. abbaci and the Practica
- most important aspects of geometriae was picked up by
Levi’s work are the Italian surveyors and masters of
combinatorial theorems computation (maestri d’abbaco),
4. Medieval Algebra who were influential in the next
Leonardo of Pisa’s Liber Abbaci several centuries in bringing a
- Liber abbaci, or Book of renewed sense of mathematics
Calculation into Italy
- The sources for the Liber abbaci Jordanus de Nemore
were largely in the Islamic world ● His writings include several works
- contained the rules for computing on arithmetic, geometry,
with the new Hindu-Arabic astronomy, mechanics, and
numerals, numerous problems of algebra
various sorts in such practical ● he worked to create a Latin
topics as calculation of profits, version of the quadrivium, based
currency conversions, and upon a theoretical work on
measurement, supplemented by arithmetic
the now standard topics of ● Jordanus’s Arithmetica
current algebra texts such as - based on a Euclidean
mixture problems, motion model, with definitions,
 axioms, postulates, his De proportionibus
propositions, and careful proportionum (On the
proofs. Ratios of Ratios)
- dealt with such topics - noted explicitly that one
found in Euclid as ratio can also compound ratios
and proportion, prime and by multiplying the
composite numbers, the antecedents and then
Euclidean algorithm, and multiplying the
the geometrical algebra consequents
propositions of Elements, Velocity
Book II. ● Bradwardine in his Tractatus de
● De numeris datis (On Given continuo (Treatise on the
Numbers) Continuum) (c. 1330) defined the
- analytic work on algebra, “grade” of motion as “that part of
based on but differing in the matter of motion susceptible
spirit from the Islamic to ‘more’ and ‘less.”
algebras that had made ● Heytesbury gave a careful
their way into Europe by definition of instantaneous
the early thirteenth century velocity for a body whose motion
- algebraic rather than is not uniform
geometric ● Oresme constructed what he
5. Mathematics of Kinematics called a configuration, a
● By early in the fourteenth century, geometrical figure consisting of
however, certain other aspects of all the perpendicular lines drawn
mathematics began to develop in over the base line
the universities of Oxford and - the base line represented
Paris out of attempts to clarify time, while the
certain remarks in Aristotle’s perpendiculars
physical treatises represented the velocities
Study of Ratios at each instant
● A basic postulate of medieval Mathematics around the World
physics was that F must be 1. Mathematics at the turn of the
greater than R for motion to be Fourteenth Century
produced. Common Ideas of Mathematics
● Thomas Bradwardine ● Practical geometry, that is, the
- 1328 Tractatus de measure of fields, the
proportionibus velocitatum determination of unknown
in motibus (Treatise on the distances and heights, the
Proportions of Velocities in calculation of volumes, and so
Movements), proposed a on, was performed by much the
solution to this dilemma same techniques in the four
● Nicole Oresme societies studied.
- undertook a very detailed ● it was in the world of Islam that
study of ratios in his the heritage of classical Greek
Algorismus proportionum geometry was preserved and
(Algorithm of Ratios) and
 studied and in which further
advances were made.
● the beginning of the fourteenth
century saw only the bare
beginnings of a renewed interest
in Euclid and other Greek
geometers, stimulated by the
appearance of a mass of
translations of this material in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
● Related to geometry is the
subject of trigonometry,
developed in the Hellenic world
as a part of the study of
astronomy.
● By the year 1300, trigonometry
was in active use in India, Islam,
and Europe, generally for the
same purpose of studying the
heavens.
● It appears that only China was
lacking trigonometry, even
though Indian scholars had
introduced the elements of the
subject in their visits in the eighth
century
● It is probable that trigonometry
was simply not useful to the
Chinese in their own
astronomical and calendrical
calculations.
● the Chinese were the first to
develop techniques in algebra
that were later used elsewhere
● the techniques Indians developed
for solving the quadratic
indeterminate equations known
today as the Pell equations
● The Indian mathematicians were
also familiar with the standard
techniques of solving quadratic
equations
● Not only did Islamic
mathematicians study the
quadratic equation in great detail,
giving geometric justifications for
the various algebraic procedures
involved in the solution, they
studied cubic equations as well.
● Islamic mathematicians
developed a solution method
involving conic sections and
gained some understanding of
the relationship of the roots to the
coefficients of these equations.
● The Pascal triangle also
appeared in Islamic mathematics
in connection both with the
binomial theorem and with the
study of combinatorics
● Islamic mathematicians who dealt
with these two aspects of the
Pascal triangle also developed
proof techniques closely
resembling our modern proof by
induction. Such techniques were
further worked out in Europe by
Levi ben Gerson
By the turn of the fourteenth
century:
● Algebraic techniques were only
beginning their appearance in
Europe
● Jordanus de Nemore introduced
a form of symbolism in his
algebraic work, something
missing entirely in Islamic algebra
but also present, in different
forms, in India and China.
● European algebra of this time
period, like its Islamic
counterpart, did not consider
negative numbers at all. India
and China, however, were very
fluent in the use of negative
quantities in calculations
● the Indians beginning in the
fourteenth century did begin to
consider infinitesimally small
quantities as they worked out
their own ideas related to
calculus.
Possible Transmission of Ideas
● It appears that the level of
mathematics in China, India, the
Islamic world, and Europe was
comparable at the turn of the
fourteenth century.
● We have already seen how
trigonometry moved from Greece
to India to Islam and back to
Europe, with each culture
modifying the material to meet its
own requirements
● the decimal place value system,
with its beginnings in China or
India (or perhaps on the border
between them) moved to
Baghdad in the eighth century
and then to Europe (via both Italy
and Spain) in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries.
● The first tabulation of the tangent
function was in China in the early
eighth century, where Yi Xing
developed this idea probably with
the aid of Indian computations of
the sine
● angent tables were brought to
Europe early in the twelfth
century with the translation of an
edited version of al-Khwarizmi’s
astronomical tables, the tangent
function is not found in the early
European trigonometry works.
● Pascal Triangle appears in Islam
in the early eleventh century and
then in China perhaps in the
middle of that century.
Why did Modern Mathematics develop
in Europe? (rather than in the Islamic
world or India or China)
● Because the technical
achievements of these four
civilizations around 1300 were
comparable, many scholars have
sought for the answer in the
religious and cultural
backgrounds against which the
achievements took place
● In China there was essentially
only one “university,” and this
was a bureaucratic subdivision of
the imperial administration.
Chinese education was devoted
to memorization and commentary
on the ancient classics
● In India, there was no central
government over the entire
subcontinent, and thus no central
system of education. the ideas
evidently never spread out of
southwestern India nor did they
develop into any general theories
● Islamic mathematics suffered a
period of decline after the
thirteenth century, and significant
ideas of earlier time periods were
lost. even when mathematics was
being highly developed in Islam,
the areas of mathematics more
advanced than basic arithmetic
were classified as “foreign
sciences,” in contrast to the
“religious sciences,” including
religious law and speculative
theology.
2. Mathematics in America, Africa,
and the Pacific
● There were mathematical ideas
in the world in civilizations
different from the four major
medieval societies already
considered. Unfortunately, most
of the other civilizations were
nonliterate, so written
documentation is not available
● any description of the
mathematics of these societies
necessarily comes from artifacts
or from the descriptions of
ethnologists
The Mayans
 ● Mayans had a priestly class who
studied mathematics and
astronomy and kept the calendar
● The records of the priests were
written down and preserved on
bark paper or carved into stone
monuments.
● the Spanish conquerors
destroyed most of the documents
they found
● because modern-day Mayans
cannot read the ancient
hieroglyphics, it has been a long
and tedious process to decipher
the few documents that remain,
in particular, the Dresden codex
● Mayan numeration system was a
mixed system, like the
Babylonian. It was a place value
system with base 20 on one
level, but for the representation of
numbers less than twenty, it was
a grouping system with base 5.
● For calendrical purposes, the
Mayans modified their
numeration system slightly, using
the third place from the bottom to
represent 360s, rather than 400s
● The most important use of
computation for the Mayan
priests appears to have been for
calendrical computations.
The Incas
● The Incas did not have a written
language but did possess a
logical numbering system of
recording in the knots and cords
of what are called quipus
● The messages were encoded on
the quipus and sent to their
destination by a series of runners
● A quipu is a collection of colored
knotted cords, in which the
colors, the placement of the
cords, the knots on the individual
cords, the placement of the
knots, and the spaces between
the knots all contribute to the
meaning of the recorded data
● Every quipu has a main cord,
thicker than the others, to which
are attached other cords, called
pendant cords, to which may be
attached further cords, called
subsidiary cords
● Data is recorded on the cords
(other than the main cord) by a
system of knots.
● Zeros are generally represented
by a particularly wide space
The North American Indians
● These people had no category in
their lives called “mathematics.”
● The mathematical ideas were
simply part of what they needed
to conduct their lives, to farm, to
build, to worship.
● This mathematics of a group of
people, used on a regular basis,
is what today is often called
“ethnomathematics,” the study of
which allows us to see the
importance of mathematical ideas
to various such groups.
● Other North American Indians
built carefully aligned structures
and even entire urban areas, thus
displaying a knowledge of
astronomy and geometry.
Sub-Saharan Africa
● One major ancient structure that
is only now being studied in detail
is Great Zimbabwe, a massive
stone complex 17 miles south of
Nyanda, Zimbabwe, which was
probably built in the twelfth
century.
● It is evident that the empire that
built this complex required
mathematics to deal with the
administrative and engineering
requirements of the construction
 as well as with the trade, taxes,
and calendars required to keep
the empire functioning
● Because the influence of Islam
penetrated to much of west
Africa, and because an Islamic
university was in existence in
Timbuktu from the fourteenth
century at least until 1600,
scholars of that region were
probably exposed to some of the
mathematics of Islam
● One mathematical idea that
appears in the Bushoong culture
in Zaire and in the Tshokwe
culture of northeastern Angola is
the graph theoretical idea of
tracing out certain figures in a
continuous curve without lifting
one’s finger from the sand.
● Another mathematical idea that
occurs in many African cultures is
that of a geometric pattern, as
used in cloth weaving or
decorative metal work.
● Mathematical games and puzzles
occur in Africa
The South Pacific
● we find the idea of tracing figures
continuously in the sand also in
Malekula in the Republic of
Vanuatu
● The Malekulans devised standard
algorithms for tracing their quite
complicated figures using
symmetry operations on a few
basic drawings.
● one can analyze the Malekulan
figures using some of the
language of modern-day group
theory
● Group theory is also convenient
in analyzing the kin relationships
in Malekula
● In the Marshall Islands, stick
charts are an element of the
navigation tradition.
● Manipulations on the tika then
enable the answers to typical
calendrical questions to be found
● This brief trip through the world of
ethnomathematics shows us that
two of the central ideas of
mathematics, logical thought and
pattern analysis, occur in
societies around the world.
Algebra in the Renaissance
1. The Italian Abacists
● The Italian abacists of the
fourteenth century were
instrumental in teaching the
merchants the “new” Hindu-
Arabic decimal place value
system and the algorithms for
using it
● The old counting board system
required accountants to carry
around not only a board but also
a bag of counters, while the new
system required only pen and
paper and could be used
anywhere.
● Using a counting board required
that preliminary steps in the
calculation be eliminated as one
worked toward the final answer.
With the new system, all the
steps were available for checking
when the calculation was
finished.
Algebraic Symbolism and Techniques
● Recall that Islamic algebra was
entirely rhetorical. There were no
symbols for the unknown or its
powers nor for the operations
performed on these quantities.
 ● Early in the fifteenth century,
however, some of the abacists
began to substitute abbreviations
for unknowns. Ex. cosa (thing),
censo (square), cubo (cube)
● Near the end of the fifteenth
century, Luca Pacioli introduced
the abbreviations p and m to
represent plus and minus (pi`u
and meno).
● Antonio de’ Mazzingh
- expert in devising clever
algebraic techniques for
solving complex problems.
Higher-Degree Equations
● The third major innovation of the
Italian abacists was the extension
of Islamic quadratic equation–
solving techniques to higher-
degree equations.
● Maestro Dardi of Pisa
- extended this list to 198
types of equations of
degree up to four, some of
which involved in the
radicals
● Piero della Francesca
- extended these rules to
fifthand sixth-degree
equations in his own
Trattato d’abaco
● Luca Pacioli
- Summa de arithmetica,
geometrica, proportioni et
proportionalita, contained
not only practical
arithmetic but also much of
the algebra already
discussed, the first
published treatment of
doubleentry bookkeeping,
and a section on practical
geometry
2. Algebra in France, Germany,
England, and Portugal
France: Nicole Chuquet
● Triparty in 1484
- he composed this because
his community has a
growing need for practical
mathematics
- first part: concerned with
arithmetic
- part two: applied the rule
to the calculation of square
roots of numbers that are
not perfect squares
- third part: showed how to
manipulate with
polynomials and how to
solve various types of
equations
● Innovations in equation-solving
techniques:
- he generalized al-
Khwarizmi’s rules to
equations of any degree
that are of quadratic type
- he noted that a particular
system of two equations in
three unknowns has
multiple solutions
- consider negative
solutions to equations
Germany: Christoff Rudolff, Michael
Stifel, and Johannes Scheubel
● Christoff Rudolff
- wrote his Coss, the first
comprehensive German
algebra, in Vienna in the
early 1520s.
- the book began with the
basics of the place value
system for integers, giving
the algorithms for
calculation as well as a
short multiplication table
 - introduced in his Coss the
modern symbol √ for square
root
- The second half of
Rudolff’s Coss was
devoted to the solving of
algebraic equations
● Michael Stiffel
- Stifel used the same
symbols as Rudolff for the
powers of the unknowns,
but he was more
consistent in using the
correspondence between
these letters and the
integral “exponents”
- did not accept negative
roots to equations, he was
the first to compress the
three standard forms of
the quadratic equation into
the single form x2 = bx +
c, where b and c were
either both positive or of
opposite parity
- Stifel’s work was also the
first European work both to
present the Pascal triangle
of binomial coefficients
and to make use of the
table for finding roots
● Johannes Scheubel
- displayed the triangle in
his De numeris et diversis
rationibus of 1545 with the
standard instructions for
calculating its entries
England: Robert Recorde
● The Whetstone of Witte
- the major source of the
first English algebra
- based on the German
sources and even used
the German symbols for
powers of the unknown
- Recorde created the
modern symbol for
equality
- he modified and extended
the German symbolization
of powers of the unknown
to powers as high as the
80th
- he gave in poetic form the
various rules of operation
Portugal: Pedro Nunes
● Libro de Algebra in 1532
- he used Italian
abbreviations for the
various powers of the
unknown
- he dealt with the
procedures for combining
algebraic expressions, for
solving equations, and for
dealing with radicals and
proportions
● influenced by his reading of the
work of Pacioli.
3. The Solution of the Cubic
Equation
● Scipione del Ferro
- discovered an algebraic
method of solving the
cubic equation x^3 + cx =
d.
● Niccolo Tartaglia of Brescia
- discovered the solution to
a form of the cubic, x^3 +
bx^2 = d
Gerolamo Cardano and the Ars Magna
● Cardano published his most
important mathematical work, the
Ars magna, sive de regulis
algebraicis (The Great Art, or On
the Rules of Algebra), chiefly
devoted to the solution of cubic
and quartic equations after
 finding out that Tartaglia was not
the first one to discover the
equation
● Tartaglia, of course, was furious
when Cardano’s work appeared.
He felt he had been cheated of
the rewards of his labor, even
though Cardano did mention that
Tartaglia was one of the original
discoverers of the method,he had
another public contest, this time
with Ferrari, but was defeated
● the formula providing the solution
to the cubic equation is known as
Cardano’s formula
● “WRITTEN IN FIVE YEARS,
MAY IT LAST AS MANY
THOUSANDS.”
Rafael Bombelli and Complex Numbers
● Algebra
- began the book with
elementary material and
gradually worked up to the
solving of cubic and
quartic equations
4. Viète, Algebraic Symbolism, and
Analysis
● As part of the general revival of
knowledge of classical antiquity,
there developed a great interest
in retrieving all of the Greek
mathematical works to be found.
● Federigo Commandino
- prepared Latin translations
of virtually all of the known
works of Archimedes,
Apollonius, Pappus,
Aristarchus, Autolycus,
Heron, and others
● Most Greek mathematics texts
were models of synthetic
reasoning
Francois Viete and The Analytic Art
● attempted to identify the Greek
analysis with the new algebra,
and who tried to display this new
algebra with “clearness and
simplicity”
● The Analytic Art
- reformulated the study of
algebra by replacing the
search for solutions to
equations by the detailed
study of the structure of
these equations, thus
developing the earliest
consciously articulated
theory of equations.
● For Viete, problematic analysis `
became zetetic analysis, the
procedure by which one
transforms a problem into an
equation linking the unknown and
the various knowns
● theorematic analysis became
poristic analysis, the procedure
exploring the truth of a theorem
by appropriate symbolic
manipulation
● exegeticsis the art of
transforming the equation found
by zetetics to find a value for the
unknown.
● Five Books of Zetetics
- e used his symbolic
methods of calculation to `
deal with a large number
of algebraic problems
drawn from a variety of
sources
- dealt with products of
unknowns as well as
various ` powers
Viete’s Theory of Equation
● Two Treatises on the Recognition
and Emendation of Equations
- central work in Viete’s
theory of equations
 - Viete did not consider
negative or complex roots
to equations, he did deal
to ` some extent with the
relationship of the roots to
the coefficients
- Viete considered these
theorems “elegant and
beautiful” and a “crown” of
his work.
5. Simon Stevin and Decimal
Fractions
● creation of a well-thought-out
notation for decimal fractions
● played a fundamental role in
changing the basic concepts of
“number” and in erasing the
Aristotelian distinction between
number and magnitude
● Works: De Thiende (The Art of
Tenths) and l’Arithm´etique
- work containing both
arithmetic and algebra,
both published in 1585
- defining thiende as
arithmetic based on
geometric progression by
tens, using the Hindu-
Arabic numerals, and by
calling a whole number a
commencement with the
notation
● he began ’l’Arithm´etique with two
definitions:
1. Arithmetic is the science of
numbers.
2. Number is that which explains the
quantity of each thing
● UNITY IS A NUMBER
- The Greeks had rejected this
notion. To them, unity was not a
number, but only the generator of
number, as the point was the
generator of a line.
- since unity is a part of a multitude
of units (that is, a “number”), then
unity must itself be a number
- Any quantity, including the unit,
can be divided “continuously.
● Stevin did distinguish between
pairs of numbers that are
commensurable (have a common
measure) and incommensurable
(do not have a common
measure)
Mathematical Methods in the
Renaissance
● John Dee
- write a preface to the
translation of Euclid
- he gave detailed
descriptions of some 30
different fields that need
mathematics and the
relationships among them
- began his preface by
noting that “of
Mathematical things are
two principal kinds; namely
Number, and Magnitude.”
- divided the applications of
geometry into two classes:
“vulgar” geometry, which
includes the various
sciences of measurement
such as stereometry, the
measure of solids, and
geography, the study of
the methods for creating
maps; and the “methodical
arts,” “which, declining
from the purity, simplicity,
and immateriality of our
principal science of
magnitudes, do yet
nevertheless use the great
aid, direction, and method
of the said principal
science.”
1. Perspective
 ● According to Dee, “Perspective is ● An alternate method of finding
an Art Mathematical which latitude was by observation of the
demonstrates the manner and sun.
properties of all radiations direct, ● it is not surprising that seamen
broken and reflected.” often used methods of
The Creation of a Mathematical Theory “guesstimation” rather than
of Perspective mathematical astronomy
● It was only in the Renaissance Mapmaking in the Renaissance
that painters began in earnest to ● Dee called the making of these
attempt to give visual depth to maps Geography
their works. ● Ptolemy made two different
● Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) choices of projection in the world
was the first Italian artist to make maps he described in his
a serious study of the geometry Geography
of perspective, but Leon Battista 3. Astronomy and Trigonometry
Alberti (1404–1472) wrote the ● the purpose of astronomy is to
first text on the subject, the Della predict the motions of the
Pittura of 1435 heavenly bodies as well as to
Durer and the Teaching of Perspective determine their sizes and
● Treatise on Mensuration with the distances
Compass and Ruler in Lines, Regiomontanus
Planes, and Whole Bodies ● Johannes Muller
- earliest geometric text - made a new translation of
written in German Ptolemy’s Almagest
The Conic Sections - able to solve all of the
● Durer had such trouble drawing standard problems of
the ellipse was that he had trigonometry using just the
probably never seen Apollonius’s sine
text on the conic sections Nicolaus Copernicus and the
● Johannes Kepler Heliocentric System
- he realized that all the ● came to the conclusion that it
conic sections were really was impossible to patch up the
part of the same family of earth-centered approach any
curves longer.
2. Navigation and Geography Tycho Brahe
- Two related aspects of ● Prutenic tables
mathematics discussed by Dee ● tracked nova
and extremely important to the
world of the sixteenth century Johannes Kepler and Elliptical Orbits
were geography and navigation ● he was able to discover the three
Problems of Navigation laws of planetary motion, today
● The major question of navigation known as Kepler’s laws
on the seas was the ● the invention of logarithms greatly
determination of the ship’s simplified Kepler’s calculations
latitude and longitude at any 4. Logarithms
given time.
 ● Scot John Napier (1550–1617)
and the Swiss Jobst Burgi (1552–
¨ 1632) came up with the idea of
producing an extensive table that
would allow one to multiply any
desired numbers together (not
just powers of 2) by performing
additions.
The Idea of Logarithm
● Napier
The Use of Logarithms
● “by shortening the labors,
doubled the life of the
astronomer.” - Pierre-Simon de
Laplace
5. Kinematics
● Statics is an art mathematical
which demonstrates the causes
of heaviness and lightness of all
things and of motions and
properties to heaviness and
lightness belonging
● Galileo Galilei
- responsible in large
measure for reformulating
the laws of motion
Algebra, Geometry, and Probability in
the Seventeenth Century
● In the early seventeenth century,
the pace of mathematical
development began to
accelerate.
● Viete’s analysis was applied ` to
geometry and reformulated into
the new subject of analytic
geometry
1. The Theory of Equation
● Algebraic methods for solving
cubic and quartic equations were
discovered in Italy in the
sixteenth century and improved
on somewhat by Viete
William Oughtred and Thomas Harriot
● made careful studies of Viete’s
work
● Oughtred felt that mathematical
problems should be translated
into symbolic equations and then
solved by the methods of algebra
● Harriot took over from Viete the
idea of using vowels for `
unknowns and consonants for
knowns
Albert Girard and the Fundamental
Theorem of Algebra
● first to note the geometric
meaning of a negative solution to
an equation
2. Analytic Geometry
● Both Fermat’sIntroduction and
Descartes’ Geometry present the
same basic techniques of relating
algebra and geometry, the
techniques whose further
development culminated in the
modern subject of analytic
geometry
Fermat and the Introduction to Plane
and Solid Loci
● Pappus, Apollonius, Viete
Descartes
● more concerned with
demonstrating this relationship
through the geometric
construction of solutions to
algebraic equations
● further how to solve equations of
degree higher than the fourth by
intersecting a circle with a curve
constructed by one of his
machines
Descartes versus Fermat
● Fermat gave a very clear
statement that an equation in two
variables determines a curve. He
always started with the equation
and then described the curve
 ● Descartes - Given a geometric
description of a curve, he was
able to come up with the
equation.
● Descartes and Fermat
emphasized the two different
aspects of the relationship
between equations and curves.
The Work of Jan de Witt
● he composed the Elementa
curvarum linearum (Elements of
Curves) in which he treated the
subject of conic sections from
both a synthetic and an analytic
point of view
3. Elementary Probability
● The modern theory of probability
is usually considered to begin
with the correspondence of
Pascal and Fermat in 1654,
partially in response to the
gambling questions de Mer´ e
raised ´ to Pascal
Blaise Pascal, Probability, and the
Pascal Triangle
- Pascal dealt with a game
of chance
- arithmetical triangle
Christian Huygens and the Earliest
Probability Text
4. Number Theory
● Fermat, involved in the
beginnings of analytic geometry
and probability, also made
contributions to number theory
● The method of infinite descent
demonstrates the nonexistence
of positive integers having certain
properties by showing that the
assumption that one integer has
such a property implies that a
smaller one has the same
property.
5. Projective Geometry
● Girard Desargues
- he proposed to unify the
various methods
- Desargues’ work was not
well received, partly
because he invented and
used so many new
technical terms that few
could follow it and partly
because mathematicians
were just beginning to
appreciate Descartes’
analytic unification of
geometry and were not
ready to consider a new
synthetic version
Beginnings of Calculus
● Isaac Newton and Gottfried
Leibniz, created the machinery of
calculus, the foundation of
modern mathematical analysis
and the source of application to
an increasing number of other
disciplines.
● Did Fermat invent Calculus?
- The answer must be that
Fermat did not realize the
inverse relationship
between the two problems,
partly because he did not
understand that the two
basic operations of the
calculus, what we call the
derivative and the integral,
each determine new
functions to which one can
again apply these
operations
1. Tangents and Extrema
2. Area and Volumes
● Kepler’s use of “very thin” disks
or very small triangles illustrate
what came to be called the
method of infinitesimals. Galileo,
in contrast, used the method of
indivisibles
 3. Rectification of Curves and the
Fundamental Theorem
● Did Barrow Invent the Calculus?
- The answer must be no.
Barrow presented all of his
work in a classic geometric
form. It does not appear
that he was aware of the
fundamental nature of the
two theorems presented in
the text.
Newton and Leibniz
● they developed general concepts
—for Newton the fluxion and
fluent, for Leibniz the differential
and integral—that were related to
the two basic problems of
calculus, extrema and area.
● They developed notations and
algorithms
● they understood and applied the
inverse relationship of their two
concepts
1. Isaac Newton
● Newton was especially struck by
the analogy between the infinite
decimals of arithmetic and the
infinite degree “polynomials” that
we call power series
● Series were of fundamental
importance to Newton’s calculus
● the basic ideas of calculus had to
do with motion
● The fluxion x˙ of a quantity x
dependent on time (called the
fluent) was the speed with which
x increased via its generating
motion.
● Newton found maxima and
minima by setting the relevant
fluxion equal to zero
● when he began to compose the
Principia, he decided to write his
text in the form of a synthetic
geometric treatise.
2. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
● invention of the differential and
integral calculus by reading
Descartes’ Geometry and the
works of Pascal that included the
differential triangle.
● he introduced dx as an arbitrary
finite line segment
● discussed how to determine
maxima and minima
●
3. First Calculus Texts
Analysis in the Eighteenth Century
● The driving force in the continued
development of calculus in the
eighteenth century was the desire
to solve physical problems
● The major figure in the
development of analysis in the
eighteenth century was the most
prolific mathematician in history,
Leonhard Euler.
● Maclaurin wrote his text partly to
answer the criticisms of George
Berkeley regarding the
foundations of calculus
● attempt by Joseph Louis
Lagrange to eliminate all
reference to infinitesimal
quantities or even to limits and to
base the calculus on the notion of
a power series
1. Different Equations
2. The Calculus of Several Variables
3. Calculus Texts
4. The Foundation of Calculus
Probability and Statistics in the
Eighteenth Century
1. Theoretical Probability
2. Statistical Inference
3. Applications of Probability
Algebra and Number Theory in the
Eighteenth Century
1. Algebra Texts
2. Advances in the Theory of
Equations
3. Number Theory
4. Mathematics in the Americas
Geometry in the Eighteenth Century
1. Clairaut and the Elements of
Geometry
2. The Parallel Postulate
3. Analytic and Differential Geometry
4. The Beginnings of Topology
5. The French Revolution and
Mathematics Education
● The only schools that provided a
mathematical and scientific
education were the military
schools, one of whose major
functions was to produce military
engineers.
● Incompleteness Theorems, to the
Algebra and Number Theory in the
Nineteenth Century
1. Number Theory
2. Solving Algebraic Equations
3. Symbolic Algebra
4. Matrices and Systems of Linear
Equations
5. Group and Fields
Analysis in the Nineteenth Century
1. Rigor in Analysis
2. The Arithmetization of Analysis
3. Complex Analysis
4. Vector Analysis
Probability and Statistics in the
Nineteenth Century
1. The Method of Least Squares and
Probability Distributions
2. Statistics and the Social Sciences
3. Statistical Graphs
Geometry in the Nineteenth Century
1. Differential Geometry
2. Non-Euclidean Geometry
3. Projective Geometry
4. Graph Theory and the Four-Color
Problem
5. Geometry in N Dimensions
6. The Foundations of Geometry
Aspects of the Twentieth Century and
Beyond
● theory of infinite set bcontinued to
cause problems early in the
twentieths. The key to solving
these problems turned out to be a
new axiom for set theory, the
axiom of choice, an axiom that
was in fact used implicitly for
many years until it was explicitly
stated by Ernst Zermelo in 1904
● Kurt Godel established his
effect that any theory in which the
arithmetic of natural numbers
could be expressed had true
results that could not be proved
from the axioms of that theory.
● both point-set topology and
combinatorial topology, subjects
barely begun in the previous
century but destined to become
one of the “growth” areas in
mathematics in the twentieth
century
● The subsequent algebraization of
topology is part of the third
aspect of twentieth-century
● Statistics also exploded in
importance especially with the
development of techniques for
designing experiments and
testing hypotheses
● the use of these techniques in
numerous situations only became
possible with the development of
electronic computers in the
second half of the century.
 ●
1. Set Theory
2. Topology
3. New Ideas in Algebra
● Leonard Eugene Dickson (1874–
1954) developed a new set of
axioms for a field
4. Statistical Revolution
5. Computers and Application
● Babbage’s Difference Engine and
Analytical Engine
●
6. Old Questions Answered
● Kummer’s idea enabled Fermat’s
Last Theorem to be proved for
many prime exponents p