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Science Forum Index » Mathematics Forum » Math History Question
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| Jack Zamat |
 Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2003 2:17 am |
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Guest
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Hi,
I'm reading a book on the history of math, and I came upon a historical fact
that I've heard commonly used, but that puzzles me a bit.
It is said that geometry started with the Egyptians. The story goes that the
Nile would flood the land, and in doing so, change the course of the river
and also wash away landmarks. The lack of reliable landmarks made the
taxation of land difficult, so the Egyptians used geometry as a way to
define boundary lines.
My question is this: if the Egyptians did not know trig, and the bulk of
what amounted to geometrical "knowledge" was, as most authors assert, a
collection of facts for specialized cases (i.e. they did not possess any
geometrical formulas), how did they go about accomplishing this task?
TIA,
Jack |
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