Chinese mathematics: Difference between revisions
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'''Mathematics in China''' has existed independently as early as the 11th century BC <ref>http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Chinese_overview.html</ref>. |
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However, knowledge of Chinese [[mathematics]] before [[100 BC]] is somewhat fragmentary, and even after this date the manuscript traditions are obscure. Chinese mathematics in early times was strongly focused on [[astronomy]] and perfecting the [[calendar]]. The view of "proof" was not our modern view. Many works simply listed equations or gave diagrams, and a proof was hinted at rather than shown. In other cases a proof was shown, but declared to be an established method after some fashion. The dating of the use of certain mathematical methods in Chinese history is problematic and disputed. |
However, knowledge of Chinese [[mathematics]] before [[100 BC]] is somewhat fragmentary, and even after this date the manuscript traditions are obscure. Chinese mathematics in early times was strongly focused on [[astronomy]] and perfecting the [[calendar]]. The view of "proof" was not our modern view. Many works simply listed equations or gave diagrams, and a proof was hinted at rather than shown. In other cases a proof was shown, but declared to be an established method after some fashion. The dating of the use of certain mathematical methods in Chinese history is problematic and disputed. |
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Revision as of 04:39, 30 September 2007
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Mathematics in China has existed independently as early as the 11th century BC [1]. However, knowledge of Chinese mathematics before 100 BC is somewhat fragmentary, and even after this date the manuscript traditions are obscure. Chinese mathematics in early times was strongly focused on astronomy and perfecting the calendar. The view of "proof" was not our modern view. Many works simply listed equations or gave diagrams, and a proof was hinted at rather than shown. In other cases a proof was shown, but declared to be an established method after some fashion. The dating of the use of certain mathematical methods in Chinese history is problematic and disputed.
It is often suggested that some Chinese mathematical discoveries predate their Western counterparts. One example is the Pythagorean theorem. There is some controversy regarding this issue and the precise nature of this knowledge in early China. Elements of "Pythagorean" science have been found, for example, in one of the oldest Classical Chinese texts (see King Wen sequence). Knowledge of Pascal's triangle has also been shown to have existed in China centuries before Pascal[2].