Great Moments in Mathematics Before 1650American Mathematical Soc., 1983 M12 31 - 270 pages Great Moments in Mathematics: Before 1650 is the product of a series of lectures on the history of mathematics given by Howard Eves. He presents here, in chronological order, 20 ``great moments in mathematics before 1650'', which can be appreciated by anyone who enjoys mathematics. These wonderful lectures could be used as the basis of a course on the history of mathematics but can also serve as enrichment to any mathematics course. Included are lectures on the Pythagorean Theorem, Euclid's Elements, Archimedes (on the sphere), Diophantus, Omar Khayyam, and Fibonacci. |
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Page x
... Consider , for example , LECTURE 9 of the curtailed series , devoted to Archimedes and his method of equilibrium . Recently , at an oral presentation of this lecture , I had at the lecture desk a reproduction of an ancient Greek sand ...
... Consider , for example , LECTURE 9 of the curtailed series , devoted to Archimedes and his method of equilibrium . Recently , at an oral presentation of this lecture , I had at the lecture desk a reproduction of an ancient Greek sand ...
Page 9
... consider a horizontal wooden circular disc with an upright nail driven part way into its center , and a wooden hemisphere of the same radius as the disc with a nail driven part way into its pole . Now coil a thick cord on the disc , in ...
... consider a horizontal wooden circular disc with an upright nail driven part way into its center , and a wooden hemisphere of the same radius as the disc with a nail driven part way into its pole . Now coil a thick cord on the disc , in ...
Page 10
... consider an early Chinese formula for the area of a segment of a circle . The formula is found in the Arithmetic in Nine Sections , dating from the second century B.C. but , because of the burning of the books in 213 B.C. , believed to ...
... consider an early Chinese formula for the area of a segment of a circle . The formula is found in the Arithmetic in Nine Sections , dating from the second century B.C. but , because of the burning of the books in 213 B.C. , believed to ...
Page 12
... consider , assuming our interpretation of Problem 14 is correct , the remarkableness of the above . The ancient Babylonians knew that the area of a trapezoid ( which can be regarded as a truncated triangle ) is given by the product of ...
... consider , assuming our interpretation of Problem 14 is correct , the remarkableness of the above . The ancient Babylonians knew that the area of a trapezoid ( which can be regarded as a truncated triangle ) is given by the product of ...
Page 15
... Consider the dissected frustum T of Exercise 2.9 . Horizontally slice P into three equal parts each of altitude h / 3 and designate one of these slices by U. Combine A , B , C , D into a rectangular parallelepiped of base b ( a - b ) ...
... Consider the dissected frustum T of Exercise 2.9 . Horizontally slice P into three equal parts each of altitude h / 3 and designate one of these slices by U. Combine A , B , C , D into a rectangular parallelepiped of base b ( a - b ) ...
Contents
8 | |
16 | |
Lecture 4 The first great theorem | 26 |
Lecture 5 Precipitation of the first crisis | 43 |
Lecture 6 Resolution of the crisis | 53 |
Lecture 7 First step in organizing mathematic | 62 |
Lecture 8 The mathematicians bible | 70 |
Lecture 9 The thinker and the thug | 83 |
Lecture 14 The poetmathematician of khorasan | 148 |
Lecture 15 The blockhead | 160 |
Lecture 16 An extraordinary and bizarre story | 172 |
Lecture 17 Doubling the life of the astronomer | 182 |
Lecture 18 The stimulating of science | 194 |
Lecture 19 Slicing it thin | 206 |
Lecture 20 The transformsolveinvert technique | 215 |
Hints of the solution of some of the exercises | 229 |
Lecture 10 A boost from astronomy | 96 |
Lecture 11 the first great number theorist | 110 |
Lecture 12 The syncopation of algebra | 126 |
Lecture 13 Two early computing inventions | 135 |
Index | 261 |
Back cover | 271 |
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