Reviving Ancient Chinese Mathematics

Author : Jiri Hudecek
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 223 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2014-07-25
Category : History
ISBN : 9781134468256

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Reviving Ancient Chinese Mathematics by Jiri Hudecek Pdf

Twentieth-century China has been caught between a desire to increase its wealth and power in line with other advanced nations, which, by implication, means copying their institutions, practices and values, whilst simultaneously seeking to preserve China’s independence and historically formed identity. Over time, Chinese philosophers, writers, artists and politicians have all sought to reconcile these goals and this book shows how this search for a Chinese way penetrated even the most central, least contested area of modernity: science. Reviving Ancient Chinese Mathematics is a study of the life of one of modern China’s most admired scientific figures, the mathematician Wu Wen-Tsun. Negotiating the conflict between progress and tradition, he found a path that not only ensured his political and personal survival, but which also brought him renown as a mathematician of international status who claimed that he stood outside the dominant western tradition of mathematics. Wu Wen-Tsun’s story highlights crucial developments and contradictions in twentieth -century China, the significance of which extends far beyond the field of mathematics. On one hand lies the appeal of radical scientific modernity, "mechanisation" in all its forms, and competitiveness within the international scientific community. On the other is an anxiety to preserve national traditions and make them part of the modernisation project. Moreover, Wu’s intellectual development also reflects the complex relationship between science and Maoist ideology, because his turn to history was powered by his internalisation of certain aspects of Maoist ideology, including its utilitarian philosophy of science. This book traces how Wu managed to combine political success and international scientific eminence, a story that has wider implications for a new century of increasing Chinese activity in the sciences. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Chinese history, the history of science and the history and philosophy of mathematics.

Author : Jiří Hudeček
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2014
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0203795091

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Reviving Ancient Chinese Mathematics by Jiří Hudeček Pdf

Twentieth-century China has been caught between a desire to increase its wealth and power in line with other advanced nations, which, by implication, means copying their institutions, practices and values, whilst simultaneously seeking to preserve China's independence and historically formed identity. Over time, Chinese philosophers, writers, artists and politicians have all sought to reconcile these goals and this book shows how this search for a Chinese way penetrated even the most central, least contested area of modernity: science. Reviving Ancient Chinese Mathematics is a study of the life of one of modern China's most admired scientific figures, the mathematician Wu Wen-Tsun. Negotiating the conflict between progress and tradition, he found a path that not only ensured his political and personal survival, but which also brought him renown as a mathematician of international status who claimed that he stood outside the dominant western tradition of mathematics. Wu Wen-Tsun's story highlights crucial developments and contradictions in twentieth -century China, the significance of which extends far beyond the field of mathematics. On one hand lies the appeal of radical scientific modernity, "mechanisation" in all its forms, and competitiveness within the international scientific community. On the other is an anxiety to preserve national traditions and make them part of the modernisation project. Moreover, Wu's intellectual development also reflects the complex relationship between science and Maoist ideology, because his turn to history was powered by his internalisation of certain aspects of Maoist ideology, including its utilitarian philosophy of science. This book traces how Wu managed to combine political success and international scientific eminence, a story that has wider implications for a new century of increasing Chinese activity in the sciences. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Chinese history, the history of science and the history and philosophy of mathematics.

Author : Jean-Claude Martzloff
Publisher : Springer
Page : 491 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2007-08-17
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9783540337836

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A History of Chinese Mathematics by Jean-Claude Martzloff Pdf

This book is made up of two parts, the first devoted to general, historical and cultural background, and the second to the development of each subdiscipline that together comprise Chinese mathematics. The book is uniquely accessible, both as a topical reference work, and also as an overview that can be read and reread at many levels of sophistication by both sinologists and mathematicians alike.

Author : Lam Lay Yong,Ang Tian Se
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2004-04-06
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789814483605

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Fleeting Footsteps by Lam Lay Yong,Ang Tian Se Pdf

' The Hindu–Arabic numeral system (1, 2, 3,…) is one of mankind's greatest achievements and one of its most commonly used inventions. How did it originate? Those who have written about the numeral system have hypothesized that it originated in India; however, there is little evidence to support this claim. This book provides considerable evidence to show that the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, despite its commonly accepted name, has its origins in the Chinese rod numeral system. This system was widely used in China from antiquity till the 16th century. It was used by officials, astronomers, traders and others to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and other arithmetic operations, and also used by mathematicians to develop arithmetic and algebra. Based on this system, numerous mathematical treatises were written. Sun Zi suanjing (The Mathematical Classic of Sun Zi), written around 400 AD, is the earliest existing work to have a description of the rod numerals and their operations. With this treatise as a central reference, the first part of the book discusses the development of arithmetic and the beginnings of algebra in ancient China and, on the basis of this knowledge, advances the thesis that the Hindu–Arabic numeral system has its origins in the rod numeral system. Part Two gives a complete translation of Sun Zi suanjing. In this revised edition, Lam Lay Yong has included an edited text of her plenary lecture entitled “Ancient Chinese Mathematics and Its Influence on World Mathematics”, which was delivered at the International Congress of Mathematicians, Beijing 2002, after she received the prestigious Kenneth O. May Medal conferred by the International Commission on the History of Mathematics. This should serve as a useful and easy-to-comprehend introduction to the book. Contents:The Sun Zi Suanjing (The Mathematical Classic of Sun Zi)Numbers and NumeralsThe Fundamental Operations of ArithmeticThe Common FractionOn Extracting Roots of NumbersTables of MeasuresThe Various ProblemsSocioeconomic Aspects in Sun Zi's ChinaDid the Hindu–Arabic Numeral System have its Origins in the Rod Numeral System? Readership: Historians of science, mathematicians and those interested in numbers. Keywords:Hindu-Arabic Numeral System;Rod Numerical System;China;Arithmetic;AlgebraReviews:“This book continues to be an excellent resource on the history and influence of Chinese mathematics.”Choice “This book not only stimulates the reader's interest in this centuries-old issue concerning the origins of the decimal place-value system, but also provides an excellent introduction to one of the important ancient Chinese mathematical texts for English readers, along with full translation of The Mathematical Classic of Sun Zi … Fleeting Footsteps should be read by anyone interested in the history of Chinese mathematics or in the origins of number systems.”MAA Online Book Review '

Author : Niccol- Guicciardini
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 393 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2021-07-22
Category : History
ISBN : 9781108834964

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Anachronisms in the History of Mathematics by Niccol- Guicciardini Pdf

Discover essays by leading scholars on the history of mathematics from ancient to modern times in European and non-European cultures.

Author : Charlotte-v Pollet
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 275 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2020-03-20
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9789811209499

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Empty And The Full, The: Li Ye And The Way Of Mathematics - Geometrical Procedures By Section Of Areas by Charlotte-v Pollet Pdf

During Song (960 to 1279) and Yuan (1279 to 1368) dynasties, China experienced a peak in high-level algebraic investigation through the works of famous mathematicians such as Qin Jiushao, Zhu Shijie, Yang Hui and Li Ye. Among these is Li Ye's short treatise on a curious ancient geometrical procedure: The Development of Pieces of Areas According to the Collection Augmenting the Ancient Knowledge (Yigu yanduan). The aim of this monography is to contradict traditional scholarship which has long discredited the importance of Li Ye's treatise, considering it a mere popular handbook. The author aims to show that Li Ye's work actually epitomizes a completely new aspect of ancient Chinese mathematics: a crossroad between algebra, geometry, and combinatorics containing elements reminiscent of the Book of Changes (Yi Jing). As well as Li Ye used field measurement as pretext for investigations on quadratic equations and Changes, the present study uses Li Ye's small treatise as pretext for philosophical investigations on link between mathematics and their history. The real topic of the study is the exploration of another expression of proof and generality in Chinese mathematics. This book not only completes the edition of Li Ye's works and presents new features of Chinese mathematics, but also fills a gap in the translation of Chinese mathematics treatises.It is the first book entirely dedicated to the diagrammatic practice of algebra in the history of Chinese mathematics. This practice is more important than expected. While being a monograph, the book is short and detailed enough to be used by students in class. It can also be used as an entry door to the research field of history of Chinese mathematics.

Author : Frank J. Swetz,T. I. Kao
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 109 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 1977
Category : Geometry
ISBN : 9780271044910

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Was Pythagoras Chinese? by Frank J. Swetz,T. I. Kao Pdf

Author : Mircea Pitici
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 408 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2016-01-12
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781400873371

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The Best Writing on Mathematics 2015 by Mircea Pitici Pdf

The year's finest writing on mathematics from around the world This annual anthology brings together the year's finest mathematics writing from around the world. Featuring promising new voices alongside some of the foremost names in the field, The Best Writing on Mathematics 2015 makes available to a wide audience many articles not easily found anywhere else—and you don’t need to be a mathematician to enjoy them. These writings offer surprising insights into the nature, meaning, and practice of mathematics today. They delve into the history, philosophy, teaching, and everyday occurrences of math, and take readers behind the scenes of today’s hottest mathematical debates. Here David Hand explains why we should actually expect unlikely coincidences to happen; Arthur Benjamin and Ethan Brown unveil techniques for improvising custom-made magic number squares; Dana Mackenzie describes how mathematicians are making essential contributions to the development of synthetic biology; Steven Strogatz tells us why it’s worth writing about math for people who are alienated from it; Lisa Rougetet traces the earliest written descriptions of Nim, a popular game of mathematical strategy; Scott Aaronson looks at the unexpected implications of testing numbers for randomness; and much, much more. In addition to presenting the year’s most memorable writings on mathematics, this must-have anthology includes a bibliography of other notable writings and an introduction by the editor, Mircea Pitici. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in where math has taken us—and where it is headed.

Author : Daniel Asen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2016-07-28
Category : History
ISBN : 9781107126060

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Death in Beijing by Daniel Asen Pdf

An innovative exploration of China's modern transformation through the history of homicide investigation and forensic science in Republican Beijing. Daniel Asen examines the process through which imperial China's tradition of forensic science came to serve the needs of a changing state and society under dramatically new circumstances.

Author : James Evans,Adrian Johns
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 419 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2023-07-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226827889

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Osiris, Volume 38 by James Evans,Adrian Johns Pdf

Perceptively explores the shifting intersections between algorithmic systems and human practices in the modern era. How have algorithmic systems and human practices developed in tandem since 1800? This volume of Osiris deftly addresses the question, dispelling along the way the traditional notion of algorithmic “code” and human “craft” as natural opposites. Instead, algorithms and humans have always acted in concert, depending on each other to advance new knowledge and produce social consequences. By shining light on alternative computational imaginaries, Beyond Craft and Code opens fresh space in which to understand algorithmic diversity, its governance, and even its conservation. The volume contains essays by experts in fields extending from early modern arithmetic to contemporary robotics. Traversing a range of cases and arguments that connect politics, historical epistemology, aesthetics, and artificial intelligence, the contributors collectively propose a novel vocabulary of concepts with which to think about how the history of science can contribute to understanding today’s world. Ultimately, Beyond Craft and Code reconfigures the historiography of science and technology to suggest a new way to approach the questions posed by an algorithmic culture—not only improving our understanding of algorithmic pasts and futures but also unlocking our ability to better govern our present.

Author : Vivienne Lo,Chris Berry,Guo Liping
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2019-12-06
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780429017391

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Film and the Chinese Medical Humanities by Vivienne Lo,Chris Berry,Guo Liping Pdf

Film and the Chinese Medical Humanities is the first book to reflect on the power of film in representing medical and health discourse in China in both the past and the present, as well as in shaping its future. Drawing on both feature and documentary films from mainland China, the chapters each engage with the field of medicine through the visual arts. They cover themes such as the history of doctors and their concepts of disease and therapies, understanding the patient experience of illness and death, and establishing empathy and compassion in medical practice, as well as the HIV/AIDs epidemic during the 1980s and 90s and changing attitudes towards disability. Inherently interdisciplinary in nature, the contributors therefore provide different perspectives from the fields of history, psychiatry, film studies, anthropology, linguistics, public health and occupational therapy, as they relate to China and people who identify as Chinese. Their combined approaches are united by a passion for improving the cross-cultural understanding of the body and ultimately healthcare itself. A key resource for educators in the Medical Humanities, this book will be useful to students and scholars of Chinese Studies and Film Studies as well as global health, medical anthropology and medical history.

Author : Ping-Ying Chang
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2022-10-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000728224

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The Chinese Astronomical Bureau, 1620–1850 by Ping-Ying Chang Pdf

This book offers a new insight into one of the most interesting and long-lived institutions known to historians of science, the Chinese imperial Astronomical Bureau, which for two millennia observed, recorded, interpreted and predicted the movements of the celestial bodies. Utilising archival material, such as the résumés written for imperial audiences and personnel administration records, the book traces the rise and fall of more than thirty hereditary families serving at the Astronomical Bureau from the late Ming period to the end of the Qing dynasty. The book also presents an in-depth view into the organisation and function of the Bureau and succinctly charts the impacts of historical developments during the Ming and Qing periods, including the Regency of Prince Dorgon, the influence of the Jesuits, the relationship between the Kangxi and Yongzheng emperors and the He family and the failure of the bureau to predict correctly the solar eclipse of 1730. Presenting a social history of the Qing Astronomical Bureau from the perspective of hereditary astronomer families, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of Chinese Imperial history, the history of science and Asian history.

Author : Reiko Shinno
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 194 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2016-02-22
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317671596

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The Politics of Chinese Medicine Under Mongol Rule by Reiko Shinno Pdf

Under the rule of the descendants of Chinggis Khan (1167-1227), China saw the development of a new culture in which medical practice came to be considered a highly respected occupation for elite men. During this period, further major steps were also taken towards the codification of medical knowledge and promotion of physicians’ social status. This book traces the history of the politics, institutions, and culture of medicine of China under Mongol rule, through the eyes of a successful South Chinese official Yuan Jue (1266-1327). As the first comprehensive monograph on history of medicine in China under the Mongols, it argues that this period was a separate moment in Chinese history, when a configuration of power different from that of previous and succeeding periods created its own medical culture. The Politics of Chinese Medicine under Mongol Rule emphasizes the impact of the political and institutional changes caused by the Mongols and their collaborators on the social and cultural history of medicine, which culminated in the medical theory of Zhu Zhenheng (1282–1358), still influential in East Asian medicine. Using a variety of Chinese-language sources including gazetteers, legal texts, biographies, poems, and medical texts, it analyses the roles of the Mongols and West and Central Asians as cultural brokers and also as unifiers of China. Further, it views North and South Chinese elites as agents of historical change rather than as victims of Mongol oppression. Underlining the complexity of the history of China under the Mongols and the significance of time and geography for the study of this history, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Chinese medical history, Chinese social and cultural history, and medieval global history.

Author : Đinh Trọng Hiếu,Emmanuel Poisson
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2023-10-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000987201

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Bamboo in Vietnam by Đinh Trọng Hiếu,Emmanuel Poisson Pdf

This book presents interdisciplinary research on bamboo in Vietnam, drawing on the anthropology of gesture, ethnobotany and the history of technology. The authors have adopted a technological approach which reviews how the terminology of different parts of the bamboo plant in the dictionaries in Romanized Vietnamese or in Vietnamese vernacular writing (nôm) enabled the authors to identify not only the plant but also each technical gesture for its appropriation by the artisan. Lithographic, literary and historical sources from the chronicles have been mobilized to illustrate the many uses of this versatile plant. Richly illustrated throughout, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Vietnam, anthropology, the history of science and technology, environmental history and architecture. It will also be of great value to those interested in the applications of bamboo in the contemporary world.

Author : Stephan Kloos,Calum Blaikie
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2022-02-28
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9781000523263

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Asian Medical Industries by Stephan Kloos,Calum Blaikie Pdf

This book develops the concept of Asian Medical Industries as a novel perspective on traditional Asian medicines. Complementing and updating existing work in this field, the book provides a critical and comparative analytic framework for understanding Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Sowa Rigpa, and Japanese Kampo in the 21st century. No longer subaltern health resources or conservative systems of traditional knowledge, these medicines have become an integral part of modern Asia as innovative, lucrative industries. Ten original case studies employ insights from anthropology, history, geography, pharmaceutical sciences, botany, and economics to trace the transformation of Asian medical traditions into rapidly growing and dynamic pharmaceutical industries. Collectively, these contributions identify this as a major phenomenon impacting Asian and global healthcare, economics, cultural politics, and environments. The book suggests that we can learn more about Asian medicines today by approaching them as industries rather than as cultural or epistemic systems. Asian Medical Industries is a highly original resource for students and scholars across a range of academic fields such as anthropology, history, and Asian studies, as well as medical practitioners, health sector actors, and policymakers.