BC zAgricultural revolution zDevelopment of the fundamental math of surveying,engineering and commerce zMath started with arithmetic (algebra) and measurement (geometry)
Chinese and Indians zDifficult to date discoveries zUsed perishable media like bark and bamboo zBabylonians used baked clay tablets zEgyptians used stone and papyrus
Babylonians zTablets were a few square inches to the size of a text z400 math tablets found zHigh level of computation z200 tablets were math tables
Math Tables zTable of reciprocals zTable of squares zTable of cubes zBusiness transactions zFarm activities zHigh level of computational ability
Babylonian algebra zSolved quadratic equations zApproximated square root of 2
Babylonian Geometry zChief feature its algebraic character zDivided circle into 360 equal parts zRelated to measurement zArea of a rectangle zArea of a right triangle zArea of an isosceles triangle zVolume of a rectangular solid
Babylonian tablet
Plimpton 322 z#322 in Plimpton collection at Columbia University zPiece broken off z3 columns of figures zPythagorean triple zIntegral-sided right triangle
Summary Babylonians were table makers, computers of high level,and stronger in Algebra than in Geometry
Egypt
Papyrus
Egypt zRemained secluded and naturally protected from foreign invasion zMath in Egypt never reached the level attained by Babylonians zNile relatively peaceful zEgypt not on caravan routes zMore known due to preservation in tombs
Moscow Papyrus 1850BC
z18 feet long and 3 inches high zMath text containing 25 problems
Rhind papyrus
Rhind papyrus 1650 BC zMath text in the form of a practical handbook z85 problems z18 feet long and 13 inches high zApplications of math to practical problems
Egyptian Arithmetic and Algebra zAll 110 problems on Moscow and Rhind papyri are numerical zMethod of multiplying and dividing zRule of False position
Egyptian Geometry z26 problems were geometric zMeasurement computing land area and granary volumes zArea of triangles zNo evidence that the Egyptians were aware of the Pythagorean Theorem !