From Hipparchus to a Helix Ruler
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE: for COURSE PACK and Other PERMISSIONS
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Jean-Louis and Monique Tassoul: A Concise History of Solar and Stellar Physics is published by Princeton University Press and copyrighted, © 2004, by Princeton University Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher, except for reading and browsing via the World Wide Web. Users are not permitted to mount this file on any network servers. For COURSE PACK and other PERMISSIONS, refer to entry on previous page. For more information, send e-mail to [email protected] Chapter One The Age of Myths and Speculations And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. —Genesis 1:3 For thousands of years men have looked up into the star-filled night sky and have wondered about the nature of the “fixed” stars as opposed to that of the five planets wandering among the constellations of the zodiac. The daily course of the sun, its brilliance and heat, and the passing of the seasons are among the central problems that have concerned every human society. Undoubtedly, the appearance of a comet or a shooting star, the passing phenomena of clouds and rain and lightning, the Milky Way, the changing phases of the moon and the eclipses—all of these must have caused quite a sense of wonder and been the source of endless discussions. Faced with this confusing multiplicity of brute facts, beyond their physical power to control, our ancestors sought to master these unrelated phenomena symbolically by picturing the universe in terms of objects familiar to them so as to make clear the unfamiliar and the unexplained. -
Great Inventors of the Ancient World Preliminary Syllabus & Course Outline
CLA 46 Dr. Patrick Hunt Spring Quarter 2014 Stanford Continuing Studies http://www.patrickhunt.net Great Inventors Of the Ancient World Preliminary Syllabus & Course Outline A Note from the Instructor: Homo faber is a Latin description of humans as makers. Human technology has been a long process of adapting to circumstances with ingenuity, and while there has been gradual progress, sometimes technology takes a downturn when literacy and numeracy are lost over time or when humans forget how to maintain or make things work due to cataclysmic change. Reconstructing ancient technology is at times a reminder that progress is not always guaranteed, as when Classical civilization crumbled in the West, but the history of technology is a fascinating one. Global revolutions in technology occur in cycles, often when necessity pushes great minds to innovate or adapt existing tools, as happened when humans first started using stone tools and gradually improved them, often incrementally, over tens of thousands of years. In this third course examining the greats of the ancient world, we take a close look at inventions and their inventors (some of whom might be more legendary than actually known), such as vizier Imhotep of early dynastic Egypt, who is said to have built the first pyramid, and King Gudea of Lagash, who is credited with developing the Mesopotamian irrigation canals. Other somewhat better-known figures are Glaucus of Chios, a metallurgist sculptor who possibly invented welding; pioneering astronomer Aristarchus of Samos; engineering genius Archimedes of Siracusa; Hipparchus of Rhodes, who made celestial globes depicting the stars; Ctesibius of Alexandria, who invented hydraulic water organs; and Hero of Alexandria, who made steam engines. -
15 Famous Greek Mathematicians and Their Contributions 1. Euclid
15 Famous Greek Mathematicians and Their Contributions 1. Euclid He was also known as Euclid of Alexandria and referred as the father of geometry deduced the Euclidean geometry. The name has it all, which in Greek means “renowned, glorious”. He worked his entire life in the field of mathematics and made revolutionary contributions to geometry. 2. Pythagoras The famous ‘Pythagoras theorem’, yes the same one we have struggled through in our childhood during our challenging math classes. This genius achieved in his contributions in mathematics and become the father of the theorem of Pythagoras. Born is Samos, Greece and fled off to Egypt and maybe India. This great mathematician is most prominently known for, what else but, for his Pythagoras theorem. 3. Archimedes Archimedes is yet another great talent from the land of the Greek. He thrived for gaining knowledge in mathematical education and made various contributions. He is best known for antiquity and the invention of compound pulleys and screw pump. 4. Thales of Miletus He was the first individual to whom a mathematical discovery was attributed. He’s best known for his work in calculating the heights of pyramids and the distance of the ships from the shore using geometry. 5. Aristotle Aristotle had a diverse knowledge over various areas including mathematics, geology, physics, metaphysics, biology, medicine and psychology. He was a pupil of Plato therefore it’s not a surprise that he had a vast knowledge and made contributions towards Platonism. Tutored Alexander the Great and established a library which aided in the production of hundreds of books. -
Circle Theorems
Circle theorems A LEVEL LINKS Scheme of work: 2b. Circles – equation of a circle, geometric problems on a grid Key points • A chord is a straight line joining two points on the circumference of a circle. So AB is a chord. • A tangent is a straight line that touches the circumference of a circle at only one point. The angle between a tangent and the radius is 90°. • Two tangents on a circle that meet at a point outside the circle are equal in length. So AC = BC. • The angle in a semicircle is a right angle. So angle ABC = 90°. • When two angles are subtended by the same arc, the angle at the centre of a circle is twice the angle at the circumference. So angle AOB = 2 × angle ACB. • Angles subtended by the same arc at the circumference are equal. This means that angles in the same segment are equal. So angle ACB = angle ADB and angle CAD = angle CBD. • A cyclic quadrilateral is a quadrilateral with all four vertices on the circumference of a circle. Opposite angles in a cyclic quadrilateral total 180°. So x + y = 180° and p + q = 180°. • The angle between a tangent and chord is equal to the angle in the alternate segment, this is known as the alternate segment theorem. So angle BAT = angle ACB. Examples Example 1 Work out the size of each angle marked with a letter. Give reasons for your answers. Angle a = 360° − 92° 1 The angles in a full turn total 360°. = 268° as the angles in a full turn total 360°. -
Theon of Alexandria and Hypatia
CREATIVE MATH. 12 (2003), 111 - 115 Theon of Alexandria and Hypatia Michael Lambrou Abstract. In this paper we present the story of the most famous ancient female math- ematician, Hypatia, and her father Theon of Alexandria. The mathematician and philosopher Hypatia flourished in Alexandria from the second part of the 4th century until her violent death incurred by a mob in 415. She was the daughter of Theon of Alexandria, a math- ematician and astronomer, who flourished in Alexandria during the second part of the fourth century. Information on Theon’s life is only brief, coming mainly from a note in the Suda (Suida’s Lexicon, written about 1000 AD) stating that he lived in Alexandria in the times of Theodosius I (who reigned AD 379-395) and taught at the Museum. He is, in fact, the Museum’s last attested member. Descriptions of two eclipses he observed in Alexandria included in his commentary to Ptolemy’s Mathematical Syntaxis (Almagest) and elsewhere have been dated as the eclipses that occurred in AD 364, which is consistent with Suda. Although originality in Theon’s works cannot be claimed, he was certainly immensely influential in the preservation, dissemination and editing of clas- sic texts of previous generations. Indeed, with the exception of Vaticanus Graecus 190 all surviving Greek manuscripts of Euclid’s Elements stem from Theon’s edition. A comparison to Vaticanus Graecus 190 reveals that Theon did not actually change the mathematical content of the Elements except in minor points, but rather re-wrote it in Koini and in a form more suitable for the students he taught (some manuscripts refer to Theon’s sinousiai). -
Chapter Two Democritus and the Different Limits to Divisibility
CHAPTER TWO DEMOCRITUS AND THE DIFFERENT LIMITS TO DIVISIBILITY § 0. Introduction In the previous chapter I tried to give an extensive analysis of the reasoning in and behind the first arguments in the history of philosophy in which problems of continuity and infinite divisibility emerged. The impact of these arguments must have been enormous. Designed to show that rationally speaking one was better off with an Eleatic universe without plurality and without motion, Zeno’s paradoxes were a challenge to everyone who wanted to salvage at least those two basic features of the world of common sense. On the other hand, sceptics, for whatever reason weary of common sense, could employ Zeno-style arguments to keep up the pressure. The most notable representative of the latter group is Gorgias, who in his book On not-being or On nature referred to ‘Zeno’s argument’, presumably in a demonstration that what is without body and does not have parts, is not. It is possible that this followed an earlier argument of his that whatever is one, must be without body.1 We recognize here what Aristotle calls Zeno’s principle, that what does not have bulk or size, is not. Also in the following we meet familiar Zenonian themes: Further, if it moves and shifts [as] one, what is, is divided, not being continuous, and there [it is] not something. Hence, if it moves everywhere, it is divided everywhere. But if that is the case, then everywhere it is not. For it is there deprived of being, he says, where it is divided, instead of ‘void’ using ‘being divided’.2 Gorgias is talking here about the situation that there is motion within what is. -
Angles ANGLE Topics • Coterminal Angles • Defintion of an Angle
Angles ANGLE Topics • Coterminal Angles • Defintion of an angle • Decimal degrees to degrees, minutes, seconds by hand using the TI-82 or TI-83 Plus • Degrees, seconds, minutes changed to decimal degree by hand using the TI-82 or TI-83 Plus • Standard position of an angle • Positive and Negative angles ___________________________________________________________________________ Definition: Angle An angle is created when a half-ray (the initial side of the angle) is drawn out of a single point (the vertex of the angle) and the ray is rotated around the point to another location (becoming the terminal side of the angle). An angle is created when a half-ray (initial side of angle) A: vertex point of angle is drawn out of a single point (vertex) AB: Initial side of angle. and the ray is rotated around the point to AC: Terminal side of angle another location (becoming the terminal side of the angle). Hence angle A is created (also called angle BAC) STANDARD POSITION An angle is in "standard position" when the vertex is at the origin and the initial side of the angle is along the positive x-axis. Recall: polynomials in algebra have a standard form (all the terms have to be listed with the term having the highest exponent first). In trigonometry, there is a standard position for angles. In this way, we are all talking about the same thing and are not trying to guess if your math solution and my math solution are the same. Not standard position. Not standard position. This IS standard position. Initial side not along Initial side along negative Initial side IS along the positive x-axis. -
Calculus Terminology
AP Calculus BC Calculus Terminology Absolute Convergence Asymptote Continued Sum Absolute Maximum Average Rate of Change Continuous Function Absolute Minimum Average Value of a Function Continuously Differentiable Function Absolutely Convergent Axis of Rotation Converge Acceleration Boundary Value Problem Converge Absolutely Alternating Series Bounded Function Converge Conditionally Alternating Series Remainder Bounded Sequence Convergence Tests Alternating Series Test Bounds of Integration Convergent Sequence Analytic Methods Calculus Convergent Series Annulus Cartesian Form Critical Number Antiderivative of a Function Cavalieri’s Principle Critical Point Approximation by Differentials Center of Mass Formula Critical Value Arc Length of a Curve Centroid Curly d Area below a Curve Chain Rule Curve Area between Curves Comparison Test Curve Sketching Area of an Ellipse Concave Cusp Area of a Parabolic Segment Concave Down Cylindrical Shell Method Area under a Curve Concave Up Decreasing Function Area Using Parametric Equations Conditional Convergence Definite Integral Area Using Polar Coordinates Constant Term Definite Integral Rules Degenerate Divergent Series Function Operations Del Operator e Fundamental Theorem of Calculus Deleted Neighborhood Ellipsoid GLB Derivative End Behavior Global Maximum Derivative of a Power Series Essential Discontinuity Global Minimum Derivative Rules Explicit Differentiation Golden Spiral Difference Quotient Explicit Function Graphic Methods Differentiable Exponential Decay Greatest Lower Bound Differential -
Thales of Miletus Sources and Interpretations Miletli Thales Kaynaklar Ve Yorumlar
Thales of Miletus Sources and Interpretations Miletli Thales Kaynaklar ve Yorumlar David Pierce October , Matematics Department Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul http://mat.msgsu.edu.tr/~dpierce/ Preface Here are notes of what I have been able to find or figure out about Thales of Miletus. They may be useful for anybody interested in Thales. They are not an essay, though they may lead to one. I focus mainly on the ancient sources that we have, and on the mathematics of Thales. I began this work in preparation to give one of several - minute talks at the Thales Meeting (Thales Buluşması) at the ruins of Miletus, now Milet, September , . The talks were in Turkish; the audience were from the general popu- lation. I chose for my title “Thales as the originator of the concept of proof” (Kanıt kavramının öncüsü olarak Thales). An English draft is in an appendix. The Thales Meeting was arranged by the Tourism Research Society (Turizm Araştırmaları Derneği, TURAD) and the office of the mayor of Didim. Part of Aydın province, the district of Didim encompasses the ancient cities of Priene and Miletus, along with the temple of Didyma. The temple was linked to Miletus, and Herodotus refers to it under the name of the family of priests, the Branchidae. I first visited Priene, Didyma, and Miletus in , when teaching at the Nesin Mathematics Village in Şirince, Selçuk, İzmir. The district of Selçuk contains also the ruins of Eph- esus, home town of Heraclitus. In , I drafted my Miletus talk in the Math Village. Since then, I have edited and added to these notes. -
The Works of Archimedes: Translation and Commentary Volume 1: the Two Books on the Sphere and the Cylinder
Book Review The Works of Archimedes: Translation and Commentary Volume 1: The Two Books On the Sphere and the Cylinder Reviewed by Alexander Jones The Works of Archimedes: Translation and He was the sub- Commentary. Volume 1: The Two Books On the ject of a biogra- Sphere and the Cylinder phy—now lost Edited and translated by Reviel Netz alas!—and stories Cambridge University Press, 2004 about him are told Hardcover x + 376 pp., $130.00 by ancient histo- ISBN 0-521-66160-9 rians and other writers who gen- Ancient Greek mathematics is associated in erally took little most people’s minds with two names: Euclid and interest in scien- Archimedes. The lasting fame of these men does tific matters. The not rest on the same basis. We remember Euclid as stories of Archi- the author of a famous book, the Elements, which medes’ inven- for more than two millennia served as the funda- tions; his solution mental introduction to ruler-and-compass geome- of the “crown try and number theory. About Euclid the man we problem”; the ma- know practically nothing, except that he lived be- chines by which, fore about 200 B.C. and may have worked in Alexan- as an old man, he dria. He wrote works on more advanced mathe- defended his native city, Syracuse, from the be- matics than the Elements, but none of these have sieging Roman fleet in 212 B.C.; and his death—still survived, though we have several fairly basic books doing geometry—at the hands of a Roman soldier on mathematical sciences (optics, astronomy, har- when Syracuse at last fell have never lost their ap- monic theory) under his name. -
Apollonius of Pergaconics. Books One - Seven
APOLLONIUS OF PERGACONICS. BOOKS ONE - SEVEN INTRODUCTION A. Apollonius at Perga Apollonius was born at Perga (Περγα) on the Southern coast of Asia Mi- nor, near the modern Turkish city of Bursa. Little is known about his life before he arrived in Alexandria, where he studied. Certain information about Apollonius’ life in Asia Minor can be obtained from his preface to Book 2 of Conics. The name “Apollonius”(Apollonius) means “devoted to Apollo”, similarly to “Artemius” or “Demetrius” meaning “devoted to Artemis or Demeter”. In the mentioned preface Apollonius writes to Eudemus of Pergamum that he sends him one of the books of Conics via his son also named Apollonius. The coincidence shows that this name was traditional in the family, and in all prob- ability Apollonius’ ancestors were priests of Apollo. Asia Minor during many centuries was for Indo-European tribes a bridge to Europe from their pre-fatherland south of the Caspian Sea. The Indo-European nation living in Asia Minor in 2nd and the beginning of the 1st millennia B.C. was usually called Hittites. Hittites are mentioned in the Bible and in Egyptian papyri. A military leader serving under the Biblical king David was the Hittite Uriah. His wife Bath- sheba, after his death, became the wife of king David and the mother of king Solomon. Hittites had a cuneiform writing analogous to the Babylonian one and hi- eroglyphs analogous to Egyptian ones. The Czech historian Bedrich Hrozny (1879-1952) who has deciphered Hittite cuneiform writing had established that the Hittite language belonged to the Western group of Indo-European languages [Hro]. -
The Almagest
Alma College The Alma, MI 48801 Almagest The bi-weekly newsletter of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. Your trusted source for news. Volume 9 No. 4 October 24, 2016 Math & C.S. Colloquium pportionment is a mathematical way to round A integers proportionally. Although well known to determine how many seats each state receives in the U.S. House of Representatives, apportionment methods are also used in the U.S. presidential primaries and the general election. In this talk, Dr. Michael Jones will Why Call it “The Almagest?” examine the geometry of two types of paradoxical behavior ctually, the name of our newsletter was that may occur in these A borrowed from an astronomical handbook settings, using real data when published around 150 A.D. The author was appropriate. We’ll also touch on some recent Claudius Ptolemy, an Egyptian astronomer, mathe- proposed laws and how they would affect the matician, and geographer of Greek descent. paradoxical behavior. Dr. Jones is an Associate Almagest came in thirteen volumes and proclaimed Editor at the American Mathe-matical Society's Mathematical Reviews in Ann Arbor, MI. that the universe was geocentric—the Earth was the middle of the universe. That, however, is not “The Mathematics of Apportionment in what most interests a mathematician about U.S. Presidential Primaries and the Almagest. Of more importance to us is the lost mathematical work that it displays. General Election” Presenter: Dr. Michael Jones Hipparchus was a Greek astronomer and mathema- Date: Tuesday, November 1st tician whose work dates to about three centuries Time: 4:00 prior to Ptolemy’s.