Free Republic

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...

I was visiting my brother the other day and his 9-year-old son was doing his math homework. I took a look at the Math problems and realized that they were almost impossible to de-cipher. My sister in law explained to me that the goal was to learn how to guess. A few days earlier, I was attending a discussion with other parents whose children attend the school my daughter attends. The subject of Math came up and they nodded their heads in agreement when someone made the point that the Math homework given to their children was virtually intelligible. One...