Author : Spanu Dumitru Viorel

Address : Street Marcu Ruxandra Mihaela ,

Bucharest , Romania

The Plimpton 322 Tablet

The Pithagorean Theorem

Pitagora - Profesorul formelor Pi - a stat in Egipt din 562 BC pina in 540 BC , in

total 22 de ani . El a parcurs acolo stadiile complete pentru preotia egipteana , care
dura chiar 22 de ani , si s-a intors in Grecia , dupa ce a stat 12 ani si in
Mesopotamia . El a provocat suparare in vechea sa patrie , prin invataturile sale si a
fost exilat in sudul Italiei , unde a intemeiat scoala pitagoreicilor . Pitagoreicii cunosteau
medicina egipteana veche .

Theorema lui Pithagora este , se pare , cea mai veche theorema . Exista mai mult
de 60 de demonstratii a acestei teoreme . Vechimea ei se pierde in negura timpului .
Nevoia de a construi cladiri a obligat la descoperirea acestei teoreme : ziguratele din
Mesopotamia , piramidele din Egipt . 3800 de ani au trecut de la descoperirea ei .

Se parea ca prima mentionare a teoremei apare pe o tableta sumeriana unde

figureaza citeva solutii in numere naturale a ei .
Tableta contine trei coloane . Pentru unele triplete de numere naturale de pe acest
document istoric este valabila formula :

Se spunea despre aceasta tableta ca este fie cea mai veche lucrare de teoria
numerelor , fie ca este o tablita pentru uz didactic in scopul invatarii listei tripletilor
( numere naturale ) care satisfac teorema .

This is a tablet that was made/written around 1800 BC. It was donated to the Columbia
University by a philantropist G. A. Plimpton in the 1930s. The tablet was written by an
unknown scribe. 

If you look at the tablet above, you will see that it contains three columns. After considering
it, it is noticeable that the this table contains part of some kind of list of Pythagorean triples.
This means that for all triples the formula

is valid.
Currently there are two prevailing views of the nature of this tablet. One says that the tablet
is the oldest surviving scholarly work in number theory, while the other says that the tablet
was just like a notebook used to learn and teach the list of Pythagorean triples.
The numbers

The main content of Plimpton 322 is a table of numbers, with four columns and fifteen rows, in Babylonian

sexagesimal notation. The fourth column is just a row number, in order from 1 to 15. The second and third

columns are completely visible in the surviving tablet. However, the edge of the first column has been

broken off, and there are two consistent extrapolations for what the missing digits could be; these

interpretations differ only in whether or not each number starts with an additional digit equal to 1. With the

differing extrapolations shown in parentheses, these numbers are:

(1:)59:00:15 1:59 2:49 1

(1:)56:56:58:14:50:06:15 56:07 1:20:25 2

(1:)55:07:41:15:33:45 1:16:41 1:50:49 3

(1:)53:10:29:32:52:16 3:31:49 5:09:01 4

(1:)48:54:01:40 1:05 1:37 5

(1:)47:06:41:40 5:19 8:01 6

(1:)43:11:56:28:26:40 38:11 59:01 7

(1:)41:33:45:14:03:45 13:19 20:49 8

(1:)38:33:36:36 8:01 12:49 9

(1:)35:10:02:28:27:24:26 1:22:41 2:16:01 10

(1:)33:45 45 1:15 11
 (1:)29:21:54:02:15 27:59 48:49 12

(1:)27:00:03:45 2:41 4:49 13

(1:)25:48:51:35:06:40 29:31 53:49 14

(1:)23:13:46:40 56 1:46 15

It is possible that additional columns were present in the broken-off part of the tablet to the left of these

columns. Conversion of these numbers from sexagesimal to decimal raises additional ambiguities, as the

Babylonian sexagesimal notation did not specify the power of the initial digit of each number.

Noua interpretare a tablitei

Quoting wikipedia :

“ In each row, the number in the second column can be

interpreted as the shortest side s of a right triangle, and the
number in the third column can be interpreted as the
hypotenuse d of the triangle. The number in the first column
is either the fraction or , where l denotes the longest side of
the same right triangle. Scholars still differ, however, on how
these numbers were generated.

In 2002, the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) published research by Robson rejecting earlier

mathematical misconceptions of the tablet and pointing out that historical, cultural and linguistic evidence all

reveal the tablet to be more likely "a list of regular reciprocal pairs."[7] In 2003, the MAA awarded Robson

with the Lester R. Ford Award for her work, stating it is "unlikely that the author of Plimpton 322 was either a

professional or amateur mathematician. More likely he seems to have been a teacher and Plimpton 322 a

set of exercises."[8] Robson takes an approach that in modern terms would be characterized as algebraic,
though she describes it in concrete geometric terms and argues that the Babylonians would also have

interpreted this approach geometrically.

Robson bases her interpretation on another tablet,

YBC 6967, from roughly the same time and place.[9]
This tablet describes a method for solving what we
would nowadays describe as quadratic equations of
the form, , by steps (described in geometric terms) in
which the solver calculates a sequence of
intermediate values v1 = c/2, v2 = v12, v3 = 1 + v2, and
v4 = v31/2, from which one can calculate x = v4 + v1 and
1/x = v4 - v1.
Robson argues that the columns of Plimpton 322 can be interpreted as the following values, for regular

number values of x and 1/x in numerical order:

v3 in the first column,

v1 = (x - 1/x)/2 in the second column, and
v4 = (x + 1/x)/2 in the third column.

In this interpretation, x and 1/x would have appeared on the tablet in the broken-off portion to the left of the

first column. For instance, row 11 of Plimpton 322 can be generated in this way for x = 2.

Robson points out that the tablet reveals mathematical "methods -— reciprocal pairs, cut-and-paste

geometry, completing the square, dividing by regular common factors -— [which] were all simple techniques

taught in scribal schools" of that time period, and that its author appears to be familiar with the prevalent

document formats used by "temple and palace administrators of Larsa" in that period.[10] Therefore, Robson

argues that the author was likely not a student but more likely a "professional bureaucratic scribe" who knew

the names of "about half a dozen ancient Mesopotamian teachers," all whom of which "had careers in

temple administration."[11]

Finally, Robson notes that Plimpton 322 repeats "the same mathematical set-up fifteen times, each with a

different group of well-behaved regular numbers." This, Robson points out, "would have enabled a teacher

to set his students repeated exercises on the same mathematical problem, and to check their intermediate

and final answers without repeating the calculations himself."[11] Therefore, though likely written by a
bureaucrat, it is unlikely to have been written for bureaucrats, as "its organisational structure most closely

resembles a class of school mathematics documents that we might call 'teachers’ problem lists.'" Robson

points out that another similar tablet is BM 80209.[11]

Thus, the tablet can be interpreted as giving a sequence of worked-out exercises of the type solved by the

method from tablet YBC 6967. It could, Robson suggests, have been used by a teacher as a problem set to

assign to students “

Comentariul meu :

Treuie sa remarcam ca nivelul la care se invata matematica in

Mesopotamia nu era unul modest .

Scolarii din Mesopotamia lucrau cu numere foarte mari , chiar

zeci si sute de milioane in sistemul nostru decimal .

Intradevar Tablita lui Plimpton 322 este prima atestare a

ecuatiei diofantice care reprezinta ceea ce ulterior a ramas
cunoscut drept Theorema lui Pitagora , adica :

Coloana a treia a tablitei lui Plimpton reprezinta ipotenuza

unui triunghi dreptunghic .

Coloana a doua reprezinta cateta mai scurta a triunghiului

dreptunghic .
Fara exceptie pentru toate cele 15 rinduri .

Valorile ipotenuzei si ale catetei sunt numere naturale fara

exceptie !

Coloana intii reprezinta niste patrate perfecte . Scotind radicalul

din ele obtinem numere naturale .

Doar in patru cazuri nu putem scoate radicalul din numarul

din prima coloana astfel incit sa obtinem un numar natural .

Trei cazuri sunt exact cind numarul din coloana intii se termina
cu 15 . S-ar putea ca in loc de 15 sa fie alt numar .

Al patrulea caz este numarul din rindul 10 , care se termina

cu 26 . Acest numar este foarte mare , si s-ar putea ca o
greseala sa fi aparut in calculul a ceea ce se voia un patrat
perfect . Este posibil si ca numarul din rindul 10 , coloana 1 ,
sa fi fost descifrat incorect .

Work in progress .