Posted on 08/30/2006 10:41:19 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The earliest treatise on algebra is the Egyptian Rhind Papyrus (c.1700 BC). But in c.3000 BC Egyptians called it "aha Calculus" because "Aha," "Ahe," or "Ahau" was the name of the second pharaoh of the first dynasty. Meaning mass, quantity, or heap (a pile of many things), it was used as an abstract term for the unknown in an equation. Originally, the word "algebra"-("al" "from Egypt"--"al-Kemit")--meant the reuniting of broken parts and was later defined by the Arabs as "restoration", including "bone setting". Note that Yin and Yang are also about the union of separate parts... Africans found a place for arithmetic and algebra during their on-going activities on such vast construction projects-- as in building temples, pyramids, irrigation works, and obelisks.
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Some of my thoughts, too. Since Egypt is on the African continent, why did all this wonderful math not find its way to the other countries there? Had it made it, the African continent would be one of the most advanced civilized places on the planet. Instead, it's one of the most backward,war-ridden, corrupt hellholes this planet has to offer. And there seems to be NO apparent movement to catch up with the 21st century. Most of those place have to pass through the 16th, 17th, 18th 19th, & 20th centuries to even think about doing so.
Calculus is nothing more than counting by making piles of stones. Very, very old. The abacus was originally a way of keeping the stones from getting lost by making them into beads and putting them on strings, later wires.
Several cultures have invented beer. The science has been lost several times and it has been independently rediscovered.
Fermentation is a natural process.
I invented Post-Its.
I'm reading John Derbyshire's Unknown Quantity right now.
It's about the history of algebra; check it out if you can!
Everyday someone somewhere attempts to rewrite history.
bump
Were chewing gum or duct tape involved?
So did Leibnitz, at exactly the same time. Neither knew of the other's work.
There is some evidence that ancient Greek mathematicians may also have come up with the rudiments of calculus, but annoyances like political unrest, conquests, and the unfortunate death of Archimedes put an end to it.
Calculus is nothing more than counting by making piles of stones.I thought it came from dentistry.
Thanks, I read the Lefkowitz.
The best stones were kidney stones. The stones were calcium, which means the same thing and is also from the root as the word for counting stones. The first mathematicians were Egyptian (Africans, since Egypt was Africa at the time), who used various surveying calculations not only for relocating their planting fields after the frequent flooding, but also for laying out the massive stone constructs which they also needed as initial points to relocate their planting fields. The abacus was Greek, the Greeks having little use for it since they did not trade extensively, although it became popular in Asia due to its application in trade once Rome became wealthy enough to engage in commerce.
Have you ever noticed how many GGG posts are about how white Europeans were first to do this, that, and the other?
Without a "barf alert"?
What is it about Afrocentrism that's barfier than Eurocentrism?
BTW, I have also read claims by Indians and Chinese that they invented algebra, etc. Is that barfy?
The Atlantean's invented Algebra. While diving off the Bermuda Coast, next to the Triangle, I found the stone roadway of Atlantis. Carved on the cornerstone of this basalt infrastructure was the word:
Atlantis
Lane
Goes
East
Before
Arriving
It's a Road Map to Higher Learning!
Do you buy that?
I think some people forget that Egypt is in Africa.
Isaac Newton is having a temper tantrum somewhere right now.
Less Filling!
""I invented Post-Its.""
"Were chewing gum or duct tape involved?"
Roswell actually. You think mere humans could come up with advanced technology like that all by ourselves???
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