Ptolemy of Alexandria about 150 A.D.

This very infuential treatite, called the Syntaxis

mathematica, or ''Mathematical Collection," was based on the writings of Hipparchus and is
noted for its remarkable compactness and elegance. To distinguish it from other lesser works
on astronomy, later commentators assigned to it the superlative magiste, or ''greatest," Still
later, the Arabian translators prefixed the Arabian article al, and the work has ever since been
known as the Almagest. The treatise is in thirteen books. Book I contains, among some
preliminary astronomical material, the table of chords referred to above, along with a succinct
explanation of its derivation from the fertile geometrical proposition now known as Ptolemy's
theorem: In a cyclic quadrilateral the product of the diagonals is equal to the sum of the
products of the two pairs of opposite sides (see Problem Study 6.9). Book II considers
phenomena depending on the sphericity of the earth. Books III, IV, V develop the geocentric
system of astronomy by epicycles. In Book IV appears a solution of the three-point problem of
surveying: To determine the point from which pairs of three given points are seen under given
angles, This problem has had a long history and is sometimes referred to as the "Problem of
Snell" (1617) or the "Problem of Pothenot" (1692). In Book VI, which gives the theory of
eclipses, is found the four-place value of r alluded to in Section 4-8. Books VII and VIII are
devoted to a catalogue of 1028 fixed stars, The remaining books are devoted to the planets.
The Almagest remained the standard work on astronomy until the time of Copernicus and
Kepler. Ptolemy also wrote on map projections (see Problem Study 6.10), optics, and music.
He also attempted a proof of the parallel postulate.

6.7 Heron
Another worker in applied mathematics belonging to the period under consideration was
Heron of Alexandria. His much disputed date, with contentions ranging from 150 B.C, to 250
A.D., has recently been plausibly placed in the second half of the first century A.D. His works
on mathematical and physical subjects are so numerous and varied that it is customary to
describe him as an encyclopedic writer in these fields. There are reasons to suppose he was an
Egyptian with Greek training. At any rate his writings, which so often aim at practical utility
rather than theoretical completeness, show a curious blend of the Greek and the Oriental. He
did much to furnish a scientific foundation for engineering and land surveying. Fourteen or so
treatises

By Heron, some evidently considerably edited, have come down to there are references to
additional lost works.
Heron's works may be divided into two classes, the geometrical and the mechanical. The
geometrical works deal largely with problems on and the mechanical ones with descriptions of
ingenious mech devices.
The most important of Heron's geometrical works is his Melrica, writen in three books and
discovered in Constantinople by R. Schone as recently as 1896. Book I deals with the area
mensuration of squares, rectangles, triangles, trapezoids, various other specialized
quadrilaterals, the regular polygons from the equilateral triangle to the regular dodecagon,
circles and their segments, ellipses, parabolic segments, and the surfaces of cylinders, cones,
spheres, and spherical zones. It is in this book that we find Heron's clever derivation of the
famous formula for the area of a triangle in terms of its three sides (see Problem Study 6.11
(d)). Of particular interest, also, in this book, is Heron's method of approximating the square
root of a nonsquare integer. It is a process frequently used by computers today, namely: if
n=ab , then √ n is approximated by (a+ b)/ 2, the approximation improving with the closeness

of a to b. The method permits of successive approximations. Thus, if a is a first 1

approximation to √ n, then
a 2=(a1+ n/a1 )/2

is a better approximation, and

a 3=( a2 +n/a 2)/2

is still better, and so on. Book II of the Metrica concerns itself with the volume mensuration of
cones, cylinders, parallelepipeds, prisms, pyramids, frustums of cones and pyramids, spheres,
spherical segments, tori (anchor rings), the five regular solids, and some prismatoids (see
Problem Study6.11 (g)). Book III deals with the division of certain areas and volumes into
parts having given ratios to one another. We have seen such problems in Problem Study 3.11
(b) and (c).
In Heron's Pneumatica appear descriptions of about a hundred machines and toys, such as a
siphon, a fire engine, a device for opening temple doors by a fire on the altar, and a wind
organ. His work Dioplra concerns itself with the description and engineering applications of
an ancient form of theodolite, or surveyor's transit. In Caloptrica, one finds the elementary
properties of mirrors and problems concerning the construction of mirrors to satisfy certain
requirements, such as for a person to see the back of his head or to appear upside down, and so
on.
The first book concerns itself with determinate equations in one unknown, and the remaining
books with indeterminate equation second, and sometimes higher, degree in two and three
unknowns. Striking is the lack of general methods and the repeated application of ingenious,
devices designed for the needs of each individual problem. Diophantus recognized only
positive rational answers and was, in most cases, with only one answer to a problem.
There are some penetrating number theorems stated in the Arithmetica Thus we find,
without proof but with an allusion to the Porisms, that the difference of two rational cubes is
also the sum of two rational cubes, a matter which was later investigated by Viete, Bachet, and
Fermat. There are many propositions concerning the representation of numbers as the sum of
two, three, or four squares, a field of investigation later completed by Fermat, Euler, and
Lagrange. Perhaps it might be interesting to list a few of the problems found in the
Arithmetica; they are all alluring and some of are challenging. It must be borne in mind that
by "number" is meant "positive rational number. "
 Problem 29, Book II: Find two square numbers such that when one forms their product
and adds either of the numbers to it, the result is a, square number.
Problem 7, Book III: Find three numbers such that their sum is a square number and the
sum of any two of them is a square number.
Problem 9, Book III: Find three numbers in arithmetic progression such that the sum of
any two of them is a square number.
Problem 15, Book III: Find three numbers such that the product of any two of them
minus the third is a square number. See Problem Study 6.16 (d).
Problem 11, Book IV: Find two numbers such that their sum is equal to the sum of their
cubes.
Problem 22, Book IV: Find three numbers in geometric progression such that the
difference between any two of them is a square number.
Problem 18, Book VI: Find a Pythagorean triangle in which the length of the bisector of
one of the acute angles is rational. See Problem Study 6.15 (c).
Indeterminate algebraic problems where one must find only the rational solutions have
become known as Diophantine problems. In fact, modern usage of the terminology often
implies the restriction of the solutions to integers. But Diophantus did not originate problems
of this sort. Nor was he, as is sometimes stated, the first to work with indeterminate equation,
nor
of the first degree. A number of the problems are very much like many
nd in present-day elementary algebra textbooks. Some exampl
the Greek Anthology are given in Problem Studies 6.13 and 6.14. Although
these problenns are easily solved with our modern algebraic symbolism, it
must be conceded thet a rhetorical solution would require pretty close
mmental attention. It has been remarked that many of these problems can be
readily solved by geometrical algebra, but it is believed that they were
actually solved arithmetically, perhaaps by applying the rule of false posilion
(se Section 2-8). Just when Greek algebra changed from a geometrical form
to an aritbmetical one is not known, but this probably occurred as early as
the time of Euclid.
Of tremendous importance to the development of algebra, and of great
infiuence on later European number theorists, was Diophantus of Alexandria.
Diophantus is another mathematician, like Heron, of uncertain date and
nationality. Recent bistorical research tends to place him in the first century
of our era rather than the third, as had previously been thought more
probable. Beyond the fact that he fourished at Alexandria nothing
certain is bnown about him, although there is an epigram in the Greek
Anthotogy which purports to give some details of his life (see Problem
Study 6.15 (a)),
Diopbantus wrote three works: Arithmetica, his most important one
snd of which eix out of thhirteen books are extent, On Polygonal Numiers, of
which only a fragment is extant, and Porisms, which is lost. The Arithmetica
had many commentators, but it was Regiomontanus who, in 1463, called for
& Latin translation of the extant Greek text. A very meritorious translation,
with commentary, was made in 1575 by Xylander (the Greek name assumed
by Wilhelm Holmann, a professor at the University of Heidelberg). This
was used, in turn, by the Frenchman Bachet de Meziriac, who in 1621
published the furst edition of the Greek text along with a Latin translation
and notes. A second, carelessly printed, edition was brought out in 1670, and
is historically important because it contained Fermat's famous marzinal
tes which stimulated such extensive number theory research. Frenc
German, and English translations appeared later.
The Arihmetica is an analytical treatment of algebraice number theory
and marks the author as a genius in this feld. The extant portion of the work
is devoted to the solution of about 130 problems, of considerable variety,
leading to equations of the Girst and second degree. One very special cubic is
solved. The hrst book concerns itself with determinate equations in one
6-8 Diophantus
In 1842, G. H. F. Nesselmann conveniently characterized three stages in the historical
development of algebraic notation. First we have rhetorical algebra, in which the solution of a
problem is written, without abbreviations or symbols, as a pure prose argument. Then comes
syncopated algebra, in which abbreviations are adopted for some of the more frequently
recursing quantities and operations. Finally, as the last stage, we have symbolic algebra, in
which solutions largely appear in a mathematical shorthand made up of symbols having little
apparent connection with the entities they represent. It is fairly accurate to say that all algebra
prior to the time of Diophantus was rhetorical. One of Diophantus' outstanding contributions
to mathematics was the syncopation of Greek algebra. Rhetorical algebra, however, persisted
pretty generally in the rest of the world, with the exception of India, for many hundreds of
years, Specifically, in western Europe, most algebra remained rhetorical until the fifteenth
century. Symbolic algebra made its first appearance in western Europe in the sixteenth
century, but did not become prevalent until the middle of the seventeenth century. It is not
often realized that much of the symbolism of our elementary algebra textbooks is only about
three hundred years old.
One of our best sources of ancient Greek algebra problems is a collection known as the
Palatine, or Greek, Anthology. This is a group of 46 numbers problems, in epigrammatic form,
assembled about 500 A.D. by the grammarian Metrodorus. Although some of the problems
may have originate the author, there is every reason to believe that many of them are of
considerably more ancient origin. The problems, apparently intended for mental recreation,
are of a type alluded to by Plato, and closely resemble some of the problems in the Rhind
papyrus. Half of them lead to simple linear equations in one unknown, a dozen more to easy
simultaneous equations in two unknowns, one to three equations in three unknowns and one to
four equations in four unknowns, and there are two cases of indeterminate equations
Thus Ptolemy's table of chords gives, essentially, the sines of angle by 15’ intervals, fiom 0 to
90. The mode of calculating these chord lengths, elegantly explained by Ptolemy, in all
likelihood was known to Hippparchus. Evidence shows that Hipparchus made systematic use
of his tables and was aware of the equivalents of several formulas now used in the solution of
spherical right triangles.
Theon has also mentioned a six-book treatise on chords in a circle written by Menelaus of
Alexandria, a contemporary of Plutarch (ca. 10 A.D.). This work, along with a variety of
others by Menelaus, is lost to us. Fortunately, however, Menelaus' three-book treatise
Sphaerica has been preserved in the Arabic. This work throws considerable light on the Greek
development of trigonometry. In Book I there appears for the first time the definition of a
spherical triangle. The book is devoted to establish for spherical triangles many of the
propositions Euclid established for plane triangles, such as the usual congruence theorems,
theorems about is triangles, and so on. In addition is established the congruence of two
spherical triangles having the angles of one equal to the angles of the other (for which there is
no analogue in the plane) and the fact that the sum of the angles of a spherical triangle is
greater than two right angles. Symmetrical spherical triangles are regarded as congruent. Book
II contains theorems of interest in astronomy. In Book III is developed the spherical
trigonometry of the times, largely deduced from the spherical case of the powerful proposition
known to students of college geometry as Menelaus' theorem: If a tranaversal inuersects the
sides BC, CA, AB of a triangle ABC in the poins L, M, N, respectively, then
( AN /NB)( BL/LC)(CM / MA)=−1

In the spherical analogue we have a great circle transversal intersecting the sides BC, CA, AB
of a spherical triangle A BC in the points L, M, N, respectively. T'he corresponding
conclusion is then equivalent to
(sin ⁡AN /sin ⁡NB)(sin BL/ sin LC )(sinCM /sin MA)=−1

The plane case is assumed by Menelaus as well known and is used by him to establish the
spherical case. A great deal of spherical trigonometry can be deduced from this theorem by
taking special triangles and special transversals. The converses of both the plane and spherical
cases of the theorem are also true.
The definitive Greek work on astronomy was written by Claudius