MATH303 History of Mathematical Concept I

FALL 2011

HISTORY OF CHINESE AND INDIAN MATHEMATICS

Ardit Dragoti Mehmet Kkdemir Esat zen eref Trkmen

About 14th century B.C., the one of the oldest civilization, China, settled along the coast of Yellow River in the North China Plain. In mathematical respect, the earliest document from China is Chou Pei Suan Ching (300 B.C.). It can be translated in English as The Arithmetical Classic of the Gnomon and the Cicular Paths of Heaven. It contains some works on the use of fractions, astronomical calculations and properties of the right triangles, in fact for the right triangle with sides proportional with 3, and 5, there exists a geometrical proof. THE NINE CHAPTERS The most significant work for Chinese mathematics has come after the Chou Pei, namely Chiu-chang Suanshu(The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art) (250 B.C.). The Nine Chapters is more systematic than Chou Pei and contains 9 sections; Land Surveying, Millet and Rice, Distribution by Proportion, Short Width, Civil Engineering, Fair Distribution of Goods, Excess and Deficit, Calculation by Square Tables, Right Angled Triangles. There are 246 problems about surveying fields, arranging taxes according to various types of grains, determining wages for civil servants according to their position in the hierarchy and so forth. After the book was written, many scholars made contributions on problems. They tried to approach problems in different perspective. Liu Hui (3rd century A.D.) had done most important one. In fact, his appendix for The Nine Chapters become a separate mathematical work and released with the name Haidao Suanjing (Sea Island Mathematical Manual). He examined many practical problems of geometry. However, today all that remains are the problem themselves with the computational directions for finding the solutions. No reasons are given to explain why these particular computations are to be performed. The Nine Chapters can be compared with Euclids Elements. Like Elements of Euclid in the West, The Nine Chapters played an outstanding role in the development of mathematics in the East Asia, despite the absence of proofs for the solutions to theproblems. MAGIC SQUARES A series of numbers arranged in a square is said to form a magic square if the partial sums of these for all rows, columns and diagonals are all identical. Magic squares were known by Chinese mathematicians as early as 650 B.C., but they only interested in 3x3 squares until 13th century. Nothing but a legendary story known behind these squares.

In ancient China there was a huge flood in river Lo. The great king Yu tried to channel the water out to sea. Then a turtle with a curious figure on its shell emerged him from the water. Circular dots of numbers which are arranged in a 3x3 grid pattern such that the sum of the numbers in each row, column and diagonal was the same, 15, the number of days it takes for the new moon to become a full moon

In 1275, larger magic squares occur first in Yang Huis book Xugu Zhaiqi Suanfa. In this book, Yang did not explain the construction of magic squares except for 3x3 and 4x4. To construct a square with order 3, he stated that: Start from the central column of the first row with number 1, the fundamental movement for filling the squares is diagonally up and right, one step at a time. If a filled square is encountered one moves vertically down one square instead, then continue as before. It wraps all the small squares of 3x3 magic square. Different magic squares can be generated by operations of rotation and reflection on constructed magic square. Chinese received inspiration from magic squares to use matrices in order to solve the lnear systems. For example in The Nine Chapters, they solve 3 x + 2 y + z = 39 2 x + 3 y +z = 34 X + 2 y + 3 z =26 by modeling of 4x3 rectangle such that entries of which correspond to the coefficients of equations. They perform column operation on 1 2 3 26 2 3 1 34 3 2 1 39 0 0 36 99 0 5 1 24 3 2 1 39

and reduce it to

by which the values of z, y and x successively found with ease. ROD NUMERALS Scholars of China have contact with India as well as the West. But China used decimal system even though the Babylonian influence in China. In the system of rod numerals the digits form 1 to 9 appeared as

and first nine multiple of ten as

and zero with an empty position.

For example, 60390 represented as

THE ABACUS AND DECIMAL FRACTION The Chinese abacus, originally suanpan, consists of bars which are set into a rectangular frame. The number of the bars changes, but at each one there are seven balls and these balls separated with a crossbar. Upper tier have two, lower tier have five balls. By convention each of upper balls is worth five units and each of the lower balls one unit.

Suanpan

6302715408 on Suanpan

Abacus may be used not only to carry out four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) but also to find square and cube roots of perfect square and perfect cubes. Division is a central operation in The Nine Chapters. Fractions are defined as a part of the result of a division, the remainder of the dividend being taken as the numerator and the divisor as the denominator. Thus dividing 17 by 5, 3 is a quotient and 2 is the remainder. In rod numerals, fractions are also appeared. Numerator placed to the top of denominator without horizontal bar. For example,

VALUES OF PI Many mathematicians during different periods of time have dealt with the values of pi. So, some values of Pi such as 3.1547, 10, 92/29 and 142/45 are found. In the third century, Liu Hui , an important commentator of the Nine Chapters, derived the figure 3.14 by use of a regular polygon of 96 sides and the approximation 3.14159 by use of a regular polygon of 3072 sides (which is a good one).

Another Chinese mathematician Tsu Chung-Chin (430-501) calculated the value of Pi as 355/113. He found that by using the Archimedean value (22/7) and Ptolemaic value(377/120) (377-22=355 and 120-7=113). He went further by calculating Pi as 3.1415927 which he called an excess value and 3.1415926 as a deficit value. However the book containing these calculations is lost! ALGEBRA AND HORNERS METHOD Horners Method, after the British mathematician William George Horner (1786-1837) is a technique for evaluating equations of any degree. However, this was first seen in Chinese mathematicians and we can list four of them who used this method, with a different name. The first of them, and maybe the most important one is Chu Shih-chieh (fl.1280-1303). We know little about it, but he wrote two treatises (pieces of writing):

1- Introduction to Mathematics Studies(1299) 2- Precious Mirror of the Four Elements (1303) In the second book the author describes a transformation method that he calls fan fa, which is the method of Horner who lived half a millennium later. He dealt with equations of high degrees, as high as 14. Let consider an example done by him: We have the equation + 252 5292 = 0and we want to find the exact value of x. Chu ShihChieh first obtained x=19 as an approximation (a root is 19 20). Here he used fan fa method, in this case the transformation y=x-19 (and hence x=y+19). Substituting in the given equation he got y2+290y-143=0 which is simpler now (Here a root is between y=0 and y=1). He gave the root of the second equation as y=143/(1+290) (approximately) and hence x=143/(1+290) +19=19 143/291. There are other Chinese mathematicians who used the so called Horners method showing its existence in Chinese mathematics. One of them is Li Chih (1192-1279), another is Yang Hui (fl. 1261-1275) and another one is Chin Chiu Shao (ca.1202-ca.1261) who used it to find the square root of 71824. He proceeded in the following way: Consider x2-71824=0. He first gave x=200 as an approximation, then he diminished the roots of this equatin (he used the transformation x=y+200) to obtain y2+400y31824=0. Now he found 60 as an approximation and again diminished the roots(using y=z+60) to obtain z2+520z-4224=0 which is satisfied by 8. So he found x=200+60+8=268 which is the square root of the wanted number. SOME SUMMATIONS OF SERIES In the book Precious Mirror of Chu Shih-Chieh some summations of series are given: i) 12+22+32++n2=n(n+1)(2n+1)/3! ii)1+8+30+80+..+n2(n+1)(n+2)/3!=n(n+1)(n+2)(n+3)(4n+1)/5! However there are given no proofs and no interest is seen about this topic until 19th century (even there is we do not have information about this). THE ARITHMETIC TRIANGLE Another important detail of the book Precious of Mirror is the so called Pascals Triangle(after the French mathematician) or Arithmetic triangle to which Chu refers as diagram of the old method for finding 8th and lower powers.

Yang Hui has also used this triangle before, up to 6th power, which shows that the Chinese mathematicians were familiar with this triangle. EARLY MATHEMATICS IN INDIA (from a general perspective) Archeological excavations at mohenjo daro (is an archeological site situated in what is now the province of Sidhe, Pakistan) give an evidence of an old and highly cultured civilization in India during the era of the Egyptian pyramid builders, but we have no Indian mathematical documents from that age. Later the country was occupied by Aryan invaders who introduced the caste system and developed the Sanskrit literature. The great religious teacher, Buddha, was active in India at about the time that Pythagoras is said to have visited there, and it sometimes is suggested that Pythagoras learned his theorem from Hindus. But recent studies make this highly unlikely in view of Babylonian familiarity with theorem at least a thousand years earlier Additionally it seems likely that Indian mathematics was directly influenced and inspired by the Greeks at an early stage and affected by Chinese traditions at a later time. The whole question of which methods were evolved by the Indians themselves is the subject of much conjecture. Initially, their mathematics developed as an outgrowth of astronomy, and it is no accident that a substantial part of what has come down to us appeared as chapters in works on astronomy. Indeed there seem to have been no separate mathematical texts. Because the writers lacked algebraic symbolism, they expressed problems in verse and with a flowery style. We also know that the earliest attempts to solve the indeterminate equation ax + by = c by a general method were made in India, beginning about the fifth century, in the work of the Hindu mathematicians Aryabhata (born 476), Brahmagupta (circa 600), Mahavira (circa 850), and Bhaskara (11141185). In the period from400 to 1200, the Indians developed a system of mathematics superior, in everything except geometry, to that of the Greeks. Among those who contributed to the subject, the noted astronomer Aryabhata investigated the summation of arithmetic and geometric series, drew up a table of sinus of angles in the first quadrant, and tried to solve quadratic and linear indeterminate equations. In the Aryabhatiya, which is a book of Aryabhata, he calculated the value of as follows: Add 4 to 100, multiply by 8 and then add 62,000; the result is approximately the circumference of a circle of diameter 20,000. By this rule the relation of the circumference to diameter is given. In other words, = circumference diameter 8(100+4) +62,000/20,000=62,832/20,000=3.1416 a remarkably close approximation. The likelihood that Aryabhata here was influenced by Greek predecessors is strengthened by adoption of the myriad (is a classical Greek word for the number 10,000). Also there exists strange information about arithmetic progression. I.e. Multiply the sum of the progression by eight times the common difference, and add the square of the difference between twice the first term, and add the common difference, take the square root of this,

subtract twice the first term, divide by the common difference, add one, divide by two. The result will be the number of terms in progression. Here, as elsewhere in Aryabhatiya, no motivation or no justification is given for the rule. We also know that in the Aryabhatiya, the area of a triangle correctly given as a half of the product of base and altitude, but the volume of a pyramid also is taken to be half of the base and altitude. The area of circle is found correctly as the product of circumference and the half diameter, but the volume of sphere is incorrectly stated be the product of the area of a great circle and the square root of this area. Shortly, we can say that for the work of Aryabhatiya is indeed a potpourri of the simple and the complex, the correct and the incorrect. The Arabic scholar al-Biruni, half a millennium later, characterized Hindu mathematics as a mixture of common pebbles and costly crystals, a description quite appropriate to Aryabhatiya. And lastly; from the phrase of Aryabhata that is from place to place each is ten times the preceding we conclude that they used ten decimal systems similar to which we use today. Also we know that the earliest undoubted occurrence of a zero in India is an inscription of 876 (Smith 1958, Vol. II, p.69). But it is quite possible that zero originated in Greek world, perhaps at Alexandria, and that it was transmitted to India after decimal positional system had been established there.

TRIGONOMETRY Here the sines of angles up to 90 degrees are given for twenty-four equal intervals. In order to express arclength and sine length in terms of the same unit, the radius was taken as 3438 and the circumference as 360.60=21600. For the sine of 3 the number of units in the arc ,that is, 60(3

3 the siddhantas and the aryabhatiya took 4

3 )or 225. In modern language, the sine of a small angle is very nearly 4

equal to the radian measure of the angle .For further items in the sine table,the Hindus used a recursion formula that may be expressed as follows. If the nth sine in the sequence from n=1 to n=24 is designated as

s n and if the sum of the rst n sines is S then s s s S s from here n n 1 n 1 n 1.

one can find easily sin(90)=3438

MULTIPLICATION Hindu mathematicians were instead fascinated by work with numbers,whether it involved the ordinary arithmetic operations or the solution of determinate orindeterminate equations.Addition and multiplication were carried out in India much as they are by us today, except that the Indians seem at rst to have preferred to write numbers with the smaller units on the left, hence to work from left to right, using small blackboards with white removable paint or a board covered with sand or our. Among the devices used for multiplication was one that is known under various names: lattice multiplication,gelosia multiplication, or cell or grating or quadrilateral multiplication. Now by using gelosia multiplication we will a example to show how it works

Here is how to multiply 543 by 7695.In the first row we have 3 times 7, 21, then 3 times 6, 18, then 3 times 9, 27, and then 3 times 5, 15. In the second row it's 4 times 7, 28, 4 times 6, 24, 4 times 9, 36, and 4 times 5, 20. And in the last row it's 5 times 7, 35, 5 times 6, 30, 5 times 9, 45, and 5 times 5, 25. Then adding along the diagonal first there is a lonely 5. Then 7+1+0=8. Then 8+2+6+2+5=23, write down the 3, carry the 2. Then 2+1+1+4+3+5+2=18, write down the 8 carry the 1. Then 1+2+5+3=11, write down the 1 carry the 1. Then 1+3=4. Then reading from the bottom around, the answer is 4,178,385. DIVISION The Arabs appear to haveadopted most of their arithmetic devices from the Hindus, so it is likely that the pattern of long division known as the scratch method or thegalley method (from its resemblance to a boat) also came from India. Let us do an example to show how it works. We want to divide 65284 by 594

Set up the problem by writing the dividend and then a bar. The quotient will be written after the bar. Steps: (a1) Write the divisor below the dividend. Align the divisor so that its leftmost digit is directly below the dividend's leftmost digit (if the divisor is 594, for instance, it would be written an additional space to the right, so that the "5" would appear below the "6", as shown in the illustration). (a2) Dividing 652 by 594 yields the quotient 1 which is written to the right of the bar. Now multiply each digit of the divisor by the new digit of the quotient and subtract that from the left-hand segment of the dividend. Where the subtrahend and the dividend segment differ, cross out the dividend digit and write if necessary the subtrahend digit and next vertical empty space. Cross out the divisor digit used. (b) Compute 6 - 51 = 1. Cross out the 6 of the divident and above it write a 1. Cross out the 5 of the divisor. The resulting dividend is now read off as the topmost un-crossed digits: 15284. (c) Using the left-hand segment of the resulting dividend we get 15 - 91 = 6. Cross out the 1 and 5 and write 6 above. Cross out the 9. The resulting dividend is 6284. (d) Compute 62 - 41 = 58. Cross out the 6 and 2 and write 5 and 8 above. Cross out the 4. The resulting dividend is 5884.

(e) Write the divisor one step to the right of where it was originally written using empty spaces below existing crossed out digits. (f1) Dividing 588 by 594 yields 0 which is written as the new digit of the quotient. (f2) As 0 times any digit of the divisor is 0, the dividend will remain unchanged. We therefore can cross out all the digits of the divisor. (f3) We write the divisor again one space to the right. (lastly) Dividing 5884 by 594 yields 9 which is written as the new digit of the quotient. 58 - 59 = 13 so cross out the 5 and 8 and above them write 1 and 3. Cross out the 5 of the divisor. The resulting divident is now 1384. 138 - 99 = 57. Cross out 1,3, and 8 of the dividend and write 5 and 7 above. Cross out the 9 of the divisor. The resulting dividend is 574. 574 - 49 = 538. Cross out the 7 and 4 of the dividend and write 3 and 8 above them. Cross out the 4 of the divisor. The resulting dividend is 538. The process is done, the quotient is 109 and the remainder is 538.

REFERENCES 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) Boyer, Carl B., A History of Mathematics, 2nd Ed. Burton, D, The History of Mathematics: An Introduction, 6th Ed. Kartz, Victor J. , A History of Mathematics An Introduction, 2nd Ed. Martzloff Jean- Claude, A History of Chinese Mathematics http://homepage.mac.com/shelleywalsh/MathArt/GelosiaMultiply.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galley_division http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mathematics http://www.kokonotsu.info/history.html (for image)