Mathematics
- Submitted by: pithg
- Views: 191
- Category: History
- Date Submitted: 03/14/2015 06:32 AM
- Pages: 3
- Report this Essay
Part A
Compare the main features of mathematics in ancient Greece with those of ancient Egypt.
Mathematical discoveries have played a significant role in the development of Greek and Egyptian culture and have had a profound impact on the world we live in. The purpose of this essay is to compare the main features of mathematics in ancient Greece with those of ancient Egypt, two of the oldest known civilisations in our mathematical history.
One of the main similarities between the two civilisations was they did not use a place-value system; instead they used the base 10 decimal counting system. In Greece, their mathematicians used letters and extra symbols to represent numbers known as Greek alphabetic (Attic or Herodianic) numerals, a similar resemblance to the Egyptian demotic (Hieroglyphic) numerals used from as early as 3400BC until around 450AD. Both systems used nine signs in each base to count individual units and both systems did not have the number zero. Evidence suggests that through market trading between Greece and Egypt, other mathematical concepts would have been implemented and adapted through history.
Resemblances found in the writing materials were the sheets of papyrus made of reeds; they were used for recording mathematical discoveries. The Greek papyri’s perished over the centuries so other sources such as commentaries and printings were relied on to provide information. One papyri survived in Greek language was Euclid’s Elements based on general axioms theory of arithmetic and geometry, dated from year 888. Egyptian scribes decayed over time apart from two important documents, The Rhind mathematical papyrus (1650 BC), gave explicit demonstrations of arithmetic and geometry calculations. We have The Moscow papyrus (1850 BC), detailing formula calculations of the volume of a pyramid.
These calculations showed the Greek mathematicians contributed to solving problems of a right-angled triangle using Pythagorean Theorem....
Compare the main features of mathematics in ancient Greece with those of ancient Egypt.
Mathematical discoveries have played a significant role in the development of Greek and Egyptian culture and have had a profound impact on the world we live in. The purpose of this essay is to compare the main features of mathematics in ancient Greece with those of ancient Egypt, two of the oldest known civilisations in our mathematical history.
One of the main similarities between the two civilisations was they did not use a place-value system; instead they used the base 10 decimal counting system. In Greece, their mathematicians used letters and extra symbols to represent numbers known as Greek alphabetic (Attic or Herodianic) numerals, a similar resemblance to the Egyptian demotic (Hieroglyphic) numerals used from as early as 3400BC until around 450AD. Both systems used nine signs in each base to count individual units and both systems did not have the number zero. Evidence suggests that through market trading between Greece and Egypt, other mathematical concepts would have been implemented and adapted through history.
Resemblances found in the writing materials were the sheets of papyrus made of reeds; they were used for recording mathematical discoveries. The Greek papyri’s perished over the centuries so other sources such as commentaries and printings were relied on to provide information. One papyri survived in Greek language was Euclid’s Elements based on general axioms theory of arithmetic and geometry, dated from year 888. Egyptian scribes decayed over time apart from two important documents, The Rhind mathematical papyrus (1650 BC), gave explicit demonstrations of arithmetic and geometry calculations. We have The Moscow papyrus (1850 BC), detailing formula calculations of the volume of a pyramid.
These calculations showed the Greek mathematicians contributed to solving problems of a right-angled triangle using Pythagorean Theorem....