Reading 1.1

Reading 1.1, 1/9/11 

 I covered section 1.1. Here's what I learned in a nice sized nutshell:

Mathematics was considered equivalent to power, it was shared with only a select few, mainly being passed down by oral tradition.

Most of the documentation we have comes from preserved papyrus and tablets.The discovered papyri, specifically two (Rhind Mathematical Papyrus , Moscow Mathematical Papyrus) have been very helpful in understanding Egyptian mathematics since they contain collections of mathematical problems along with their solutions.

Egyptians had two number systems, the hieroglyphic and the hieratic system.

With respect to Algorithms, Egyptian multiplication was based on a continual doubling process while

Division was done using almost the same method since it is after all the inverse of multiplication. 

Also, Egyptians had a common way of solving linear equations usually referred to as false position.

In addition, the papyri, specifically the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, showed the different geometric problems Egyptian scribes worked to solve; it also shows the Egyptian's approximation version of pi which for them was 8/9. 

Questions:


1) What were the two writing styles used for? 
Hieroglyphics were used for monumental inscriptions while hieratic writing was the one found on the recovered papyri.

2) What discovery was essential in understanding the language of the Egyptians?
The Rosetta Stone 


3) What is the difference between false position and the modern technique we generally use to solve linear equations?
The key difference is that the scribes would first assume an incorrect answer then proportion that answer to get to the correct one. 


What happened to the two writing styles of the Egyptians?
Once Greek domination was in effect, both of these writing styles died out.



Interesting: 8
Quality: 8
Complexity: 6


Bisous
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