Critical Analysis of Egyptian, Mesopotamia and Greek Mathematics

Graduate Study/Course: M.A.Math.Ed. History of Mathematics

Masterand: Johnmark L.Gorgonio, CE, ME I
Professor: Merlyn M. Sanchez, Ph.D.
____________________________________________________________________________

Egyptian Mathematics
Our first knowledge of mankinds use of mathematics beyond mere counting
comes from the Egyptians and Babylonians. Both civilizations developed
mathematics that was similar in some ways but different in others. The
mathematics of Egypt, at least what is known from the papyri, can
essentially be called applied arithmetic. It was practical information
communicated via example on how to solve specific problems. This point,
that mathematics was communicated by example, rather than by principle,
is significant and is different than todays mathematics that is communicated
essentially by principle with examples to illustrate principles. The reasons for
this are unknown but could be due partly to the fact that symbolism, the
medium of principles, did not exist in these early times. Indeed, much of
mathematics for many centuries was communicated in this way. It may be
much easier to explain to a young student an algorithm to solve a problem
and for them to learn to solve like problems, than to explain the abstract
concept first and basing examples upon this concept.

1. Basic facts about ancient Egypt.

Egyptian hieroglyphics are in great abundance throughout Egypt. They were
essentially indecipherable until 1799 when in Alexandria the trilingual
Rosetta Stone was discovered. The Rosetta stone, an irregularly shaped
tablet of black basalt measuring about 3 feet 9 inches by 2 feet 4 inches,
was found near the town of Rosetta (Rashid) just a few miles northwest of
Alexandria. Written in the two languages (Greek and Egyptian but three
writing systems (hieroglyphics, its cursive form demotic script, and Greek, it

provided the key toward the deciphering of hieroglyphic writing. The

inscriptions on it were the benefactions conferred by Ptolemy V Epiphanes
(205 - 180 BCE) were written by the priests of Memphis. The translation was
primarily due to Thomas Young (1773 - 1829) and Jean Francois Champollion
(1790-1832), who, very early in his life was inspired to Egyptology by the
French

mathematician

Jean

Baptiste

Joseph

Fourier

(1768

1830).

Champollion completed the work begun by Young and correctly deciphered

the complete stone. An Egyptologist of the first rank, he was the first to
recognize the signs could be alphabetic, syllabic, or determinative (i.e.
standing for complete ideas) He also established the original language of the
Rosetta stone was Greek, and that the hieroglyphic text was a translation
from the Greek. An unusual aspect of hieroglyphics is that they can be read
from left to right, or right to left, or vertically (top to bottom). It is the
orientation of the glyphs that gives the clue; the direction of people and
animals face toward the beginning of the line. For the Egyptians writing was
an esthetic experience, and they viewed their writing signs as Gods words..
This could explain the unnecessary complexity, in face of the fact that
obviously simplifications would certainly have occurred if writing were
designed for all citizens. Rosetta Stone The demotic script was for more
general use, the hieroglyphics continued to be used for priestly and formal
applications. The Egyptians established an annual calendar of 12 months of
30 days each plus five feast days. Religion was a central feature of Egyptian
society. There was a preoccupation with death. Many of Egypts greatest
monuments were tombs constructed at great expense, and which required
detailed logistical calculations and at least basic geometry. Construction
projects on a massive scale were routinely carried out. The logistics of
construction require

all sorts

of mathematics. You will see several

mensuration (measurement) problems, simple algebra problems, and the

methods for computation. Our sources of Egyptian mathematics are scarce.
Indeed, much of our knowledge of ancient Egyptian mathematics comes not
from the hieroglyphics (carved sacred letters or sacred letters) inscribed on

the hundreds of temples but from two papyri containing collections of

mathematical problems with their solutions.

The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus named for A.H.Rhind (1833- 1863)

who purchased it at Luxor in 1858. Origin: 1650 BCE but it was written
very much earlier. It is 18 feet long and 13 inches wide. It is also called

the Ahmes Papyrus after the scribe that last copied it.
The Moscow Mathematical Papyrus purchased

by

V.

S.

Golenishchev (d. 1947). Origin: 1700 BC. It is 15 ft long and 3 inches

wide. Two sections of this chapter offer highlights from these papyri.
Papyrus, the writing material of ancient times, takes its name from the
plant from which it is made. Long cultivated in the Nile delta region in
Egypt, the Cyperus papyrus was grown for its stalk, whose inner pith
was cut into thin strips and laid at right angles on top of each other.
When pasted and pressed together, the result was smooth, thin,
cream-colored papery sheets, normally about five to six inches wide. To
write on it brushes or styli, reeds with crushed tips, were dipped into
ink or colored liquid.
A remarkable number of papyri, some dating from 2,500 BCE, have been
found, protected from decomposition by the dry heat of the region though
they often lay unprotected in desert sands or burial tombs.
2. Counting and Arithmetic - basics
The Egyptian counting system was decimal. Though non positional, it could
deal with numbers of great scale. Yet, there is no apparent way to construct
numbers arbitrarily large. (Compare that with modern systems, which is
positional, which by its nature allows and economy for expressing huge
numbers.) The number system was decimal with special symbols for 1, 10,
100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, and 1,000,000. Addition was accomplished by
grouping and regrouping. Multiplication and division were essentially based
on binary multiples. Fractions were ubiquitous but only unit fractions, with

two exceptions, were allowed. All other fractions were required to be written
as a sum of unit fractions. Geometry was limited to areas, volumes, and
similarity. Curiously, though, volume measures for the fractional portions of
the hekat a volume measuring about 4.8 liters, were symbolically expressed
differently from others. Simple algebraic equations were solvable, even
systems of equations in two dimensions could be solved.

It seems certain that the

Egyptians understood

general rules for handling

fractions.
3. The Ahmes Papyrus
The Ahmes was written in hieratic,
and probably originated from the
Middle Kingdom: 2000-1800 BC. It
claims to be a thorough study of
all things, insight into all that
exists, knowledge of all obscure
secrets. In fact, it is somewhat
less. It is a collection of exercises,
substantially rhetorical in form,
designed primarily for students of
mathematics.
Included
are
exercises in

fractions
notation
arithmetic
algebra
geometry
mensuration

The practical mathematical tools

for construction? To illustrate the
level and scope of Egyptian
mathematics of this period, we
select several of the problems and
their solutions as found in the two
papyri. For example, beer and
bread problems are common in the
Ahmes.

Geometry
and
Mensuration
Most geometry is related to
mensuration. The Ahmes contains
problems for the areas of

isosceles triangles (correct)

isosceles trapezoids (correct)
quadrilaterals (incorrect)
frustum (correct)
circle (incorrect)
curvilinear areas

In one problem the area for the

quadrilateral was given by

which of course is wrong in general

but correct for rectangles. Yet
the .Rope stretchers. of ancient
Egypt, that is the land surveyors,
often had to deal with irregular
quadrilaterals
when
measuring
areas of land. This formula is quite
accurate if the quadrilateral in
question is nearly a rectangle.

On Rigor. There is in Egyptian

mathematics
a
search
for
relationships, but the Egyptians
had only a vague distinction
between
the
exact
and
the
approximate. Formulas were not
evident. Only solutions to specific
problems were given, from which
the student was left to generalize
to other circumstances. Yet, as we
shall see, several of the great
Greek
mathematicians,
Pythagoras , Thales, and Eudoxus
to name three, studied in Egypt.
There must have been more there
than student exercises to learn!
The are numerous myths about the
presumed geometric relationship
among the dimensions of the Great
Pyramid.
Heres one:
[perimeter
of
base]=
[circumference of a circle of
radius=height] Such a formula
would yield an effective = 3(1/7),
not
= 3(1/6).
4 The Moscow Papyrus
The Moscow papyrus contains only
about
25,
mostly
practical,
examples. The author is unknown.
It was purchased by V. S.
Golenishchev (d. 1947) and sold to
the Moscow Museum of Fine Art.
Origin: 1700 BC. It is 15 feet long
and about 3 inches wide.

Heres the picture that is found in

the Moscow Papyrus

Heres the modern version of the

picture and a perspective drawing

5. Implication of Egyptian Mathematics

In the few bullet items below we
give a summary of known Egyptian
mathematical
achievements.
Records of conquests of pharohs
and other facts of Egyptian life are
in abundance throughout Egypt,
but of her mathematics only traces
have been found. These fragments,
from a civilization that lasted a
millennium longer than the entire
Christian era, that undertook
constructions projects on a seen
not seen again6 until this century,
and that created abundance from a
desert, allow only the following
conclusions.
Egyptian
mathematics
remained remarkably uniform
through out time.
It was built around addition.
Little
theoretical
contributions were evident.
Only
the
slightest
of
abstraction is evident. Yet
exact versions of difcult to
find formulas were available.
It was substantially practical.
The texts were for students.
No principles. are evident,
neither
are
there
laws,
theorems, axioms postulates
or
demonstrations;
the
problems of the papyri are
examples from which the
student would generalize to
the actual problem at hand.
The papyri were probably not
written for self study. No

doubt there was a teacher

present to assist the student
learning the examples and
then giving exercises for the
student to solve.
There seems to be no clear
differentiation between the
concepts of exactness and
approximate.
Elementary
congruencies
were
used
only
for
mensuration.
Yet, there must have been much
more to Egyptian mathematics. We
know that Thales, Pythagoras and
others visited Egypt to study. If
there were only applied arithmetic
methods as we have
seen in the papyri, the trip would
have had little value. But where are
the records of achievement? Very
likely, the mathematics extant was
absorbed into the body of Greek
mathematics . in an age where new
and
better
works
completely
displaced the old, and in this case
the
old
works
written
in
hieroglyphics.
Additionally,
the
Alexandrian library, one place
where
ancient
Egyptian
mathematical works may have
been preserved, was destroyed by
about 400 CE.
________________________________

Babylonian Mathematics
Basic Facts

The Babylonian civilization has its

roots dating to 4000BCE with the
Sumerians in Mesopotamia. Yet
little
is
known
about
the
Sumerians. Sumer was first settled
between 4500 and 4000 BC by a
non-Semitic people who did not
speak the Sumerian language.
These people now are called
Ubaidians, for the village Al-Ubaid,
where their remains were first
uncovered. Even less is known
about their mathematics. Of the
little that is known, the Sumerians
of
the
Mesopotamian
valley
builthomes
and
temples
and
decorated
them
with
artistic
pottery and mosaics in geometric
patterns. The Ubaidians were the
first civilizing force in the region.
They
drained
marshes
for
agriculture, developed trade and
established industries including
weaving, leatherwork, metalwork,
masonry, and pottery. The people
called Sumerians, whose language
prevailed in the territory, probably
came
from
around
Anatolia,
probably arriving in Sumer about
3300 BC. For a brief chronological
outline of Mesopotamia. The early
Sumerians did have writing for
numbers as shown below. Owing to
the scarcity of resources, the
Sumerians adapted the ubiquitous
clay in the region developing a
writing that required the use of a
stylus to carve into a soft clay

tablet.

It

predated

the

cuneiform (wedge) pattern of

writing that the Sumerians had
developed
during
the
fourth
millennium. It probably antedates
the Egyptian hieroglyphic may
have been the earliest form of
written
communication.
The
Babylonians, and other cultures
including
the
Assyrians,
and
Hittites,
inherited
Sumerian
law
and
literature and importantly their
style of writing.
Here we focus on the later period
of the Mesopotamian civilization
which engulfed the Sumerian
civilization.
The
Mesopotamian
civilizations
are
often
called
Babylonian, though this is not
correct. Actually, Babylon3 was not
the first great city, though the
whole
civilization
is
called
Babylonian. Babylon, even during
its existence, was not always the
center of Mesopotamian culture.
The region, at least that between
the two rivers, the Tigris and the
Euphrates, is also called Chaldea.
Babylonian Numbers
In mathematics, the Babylonians
(Sumerians) were somewhat more
advanced than the Egyptians.

Their mathematical notation

was
positional
but
sexagesimal.
They used no zero.
More
general
fractions,
though not all fractions, were
admitted.
They could extract square
roots.
They could solve linear
systems.
They
worked
with
Pythagorean triples.
They solved cubic equations
with the help of tables.
They
studied
circular
measurement.
Their
geometry
was
sometimes incorrect.
For enumeration the Babylonians
used symbols for 1, 10, 60, 600,
3,600, 36,000, and 216,000, similar
to the earlier period. Below are four
of the symbols. They did arithmetic
in base 60, sexagesimal.

Babylonian Algebra
In Greek mathematics there is a
clear distinction between the
geometric
and
algebraic.
Overwhelmingly,
the
Greeks
assumed a geometric position
wherever possible. Only in the later
work of Diophantus do we see
algebraic methods of significance.
On the other hand, the Babylonians
assumed just as definitely, an
algebraic viewpoint. They allowed
operations that were forbidden in
Greek mathematics and even later
until the 16th century of our own
era. For example, they would freely
multiply
areas and lengths, demonstrating
that the units were of less
importance. Their methods of
designating unknowns, however,
does
invoke
units.
First,
mathematical
expression
was
strictly rhetorical, symbolism would
not come for another two millenia

with Diophantus, and then not

significantly
until Vieta in the 16th century. For
example, the designation of the
unknown
was
length.
The
designation of the square of the
unknown was area. In solving linear
systems of two dimensions, the
unknowns
were
length
and
breadth, and length, breadth, and
width for three dimensions.
Square
Roots.
Recall
the
approximation of 2. How did they
get it? There are two possibilities:
(1) Applying the method of the
mean. (2)
Applying the approximation

solution would be impossibly

difcult. No doubt this rendered a
sense of the mystic to the
mathematician.

Solving
Quadratics.
The
Babylonian method for solving
quadratics is essentially based on
completing
the
square.
The
method(s) are not as clean. as the
modern quadratic formula, because
the Babylonians allowed only
positive solutions. Thus equations
always were set in a form for which
there was a positive solution.
Negative
solutions
(indeed
negative numbers) would not be
allowed until the 16th century CE.

Pythagorean Triples
As we have seen there is solid
evidence that the ancient Chinese
were aware of the Pythagorean
theorem, even though they may
not have had anything near to a
proof. The Babylonians, too, had
such an awareness. Indeed, the
evidence here is very much
stronger, for an entire tablet of
Pythagorean triples has been
discovered. The events surrounding
them reads much like a modern
detective story, with the sleuth
being
archaeologist
Otto
Neugebauer. We begin in about
1945 with the Plimpton
322 tablet, which is now the
Babylonian
collection
at
Yale
University, and dates from about

The rhetorical method of writing a

problem does not require variables.
As such problems have a rather
intuitive
feel.
Anyone
could
understand
the problem,
but
without the proper tools, the

Solving Cubics. The Babylonians

even managed to solve cubic
equations, though again only those
having positive solutions. However,
the form of the equation was
restricted tightly.
Solving linear systems. The
solution of linear systems were
solved in a particularly clever way,
reducing
a
problem
of
two
variables to one variable in a sort
of elimination process, vaguely
reminiscent of Gaussian elimination

1700 BCE. It appears to have the

left section broken away. Indeed,
the presence of glue on the broken
edge indicates that it was broken
after excavation. What the tablet
contains is fifteen rows of numbers,
numbered from 1 to 15.
Babylonian Geometry
Circular Measurement. We find
that the Babylonians used = 3 for
practical computation. But, in 1936
at Susa (captured by Alexander the
Great in 331 BCE), a number of
tablets with significant geometric
results were unearthed. One tablet
compares the areas and the
squares of the sides of the regular
polygons of three to seven sides.
For
example,
there
is
the
approximation

Implication of Babylonian
Mathematics
That Babylonian mathematics may
seem to be further advanced than
that of Egypt may be due to the
evidence
available.
So,
even
though we see the development as
being more general and somewhat
broader in scope, there remain
many similarities. For example,
problems contain only specific
cases. There seem to be no general
formulations. The lack of notation
is clearly detrimental in the
handling of algebraic problems.

There is an absence of clear cut

distinctions between exact and
approximate results.
Geometric considerations play a
very secondary role in Babylonian
algebra, even though geometric
terminology may be used. Areas
and lengths are freely added,
something that would not be
possible in Greek mathematics.
Overall, the role of geometry is
diminished in comparison with
algebraic and numerical methods.
Questions about solvability or
insolvability
are
absent.
The
concept of .proof. is unclear and
uncertain. Overall, there is no
sense of abstraction. In sum,
Babylonian mathematics, like that
of the Egyptians, is mostly

utilitarian . but apparently more

advanced.
END

The Greek Mathematics

Though
the
Greeks
certainly
borrowed from other civilizations,
they built a culture and civilization
on their own which is
The most impressive of all
civilizations
The
most
influential
in
Western culture
The
most
decisive
in
founding mathematics as we
know it.

and literary genres, our alphabet,

our music, our
sculpture, and most particularly our
mathematics all exist as facets of
the Greek heritage. The detailed
study
of
Greek
mathematics
reveals
much
about
modern
mathematics, if not the modern
directions, then the logic and
methods.
The
Sources
of
Greek
Mathematics
In actual fact, our direct knowledge
of Greek mathematics is less
reliable than that of the older
Egyptian
and
Babylonian
mathematics, because none of the
original manuscripts are extant.
There are two sources:

The impact of Greece is typified by

the hyperbole of Sir Henry Main:
Except the blind forces of nature,
nothing moves in this world which
is not Greek in its origin. Including
the adoption of Egyptian and other
earlier cultures by the Greeks, we
find their patrimony in all
phases of modern life. Handicrafts,
mining techniques, engineering,
trade, governmental regulation of
commerce and more have all come
down to use from Rome and from
Rome through Greece. Especially,
our democracies and dictatorships
go back to Greek exemplars, as
well
do
our
schools
and
universities, our sports, our games.
And there is more. Our literature

Byzantine
Greek
codices
(manuscript books) written
500-1500 years after the
Greek works were composed.
Arabic translations of Greek
works and Latin translations
of the Arabic versions. (Were
there
changes
to
the
originals?)

Moreover, we do not know even if

these works were made from the
originals. For example, Heron made
a number of changes in Euclids
Elements, adding new cases,
providing different proofs and
converses. Likewise for Theon of
Alexandria (400 A. D.).

The Greeks wrote

Mathematics:

histories

of

Eudemus (4th century BCE),

a member of Aristotles
school wrote histories3 of
arithmetic, geometry and
astronomy (lost),
Theophrastus (c. 372 - c.
287 BCE) wrote a history of
physics (lost).
Pappus (late 3rdcentury CE)
wrote
the
Mathematical
Collection, an account of
classical mathematics from
Euclid to Ptolemy (extant).
Pappus wrote Treasury of
Analysis, a collection of the
Greek
works
themselves
(lost).
Proclus (410-485 CE) wrote
the Commentary, treating
Book I of Euclid and contains
quotations due to Eudemus
(extant).
various fragments of others.

Major
Schools
of
Greek
Mathematics
The Classical Greek mathematics
can be neatly divided in to several
schools,
which
represent
a
philosophy
and
a
style
of
mathematics. Culminating with The
Elements
of
Euclid,
each
contributed in a real way important
facets to that monumental work. In
some cases the influence was
much broader.

The Ionian School

The Ionian School was founded by
Thales (c. 643 - c. 546 BCE).
Students included Anaximander (c.
610 - c. 547 BCE) and Anaximenes
(c. 550- c. 480
BCE), actually a student of
Anaximander. He regarded air as
the origin and used the term air
as god. Thales is the first of those
to write on physics physiologia,
which was on the principles of
being and developing in things. His
work
was
enthusiastically
advanced
by
his
student
Anaximander. Exploring the origins
of the universe, Axaximander wrote
that the first principle was a vast
Indefinite-Infinite
(apeiron),
a
boundless mass possessing no
specific qualities. By inherent
forces, it gradually developed into
the universe.
In his system, the animate and
eternal but impersonal Infinite is
the only God, and is unvarying and
everlasting. Thales is sometimes
credited with having given the first
deductive proofs. He is credited
with five basic theorems in plane
geometry, one being that the every
triangle inscribed in a semicircle is
a right triangle. Another result, that
the diameter bisects a circle
appears in The Elements as a
definition. Therefore, it is doubtful
that proofs provided by Thales
match the rigor of logic based on
the principles set out by Aristotle
and climaxed in The Elements.

Thales is also credited with a

number
of
remarkable
achievements, from astronomy to
mensuration to business
acumen, that will be taken up
another chapter. The importance of
the Ionian School for philosophy
and the philosophy of science is
without dispute.

The Pythagorean School

The
Pythagorean
School
was
founded
by Pythagoras in about 455 BCE
A
brief
list
of
Pythagorean
contributions includes:
1. Philosophy.
2. The study of proportion
3. The study of plane and solid
geometry.
4. Number theory.
5. The theory of proof.
6.
The
discovery
incommensurables.

of

For another example, Hippocrates

of Chios (late 5th century BCE),
computed
the quadrature of certain lunes.
This, by the way, is the first correct
proof of the area of a curvilinear
figure, next to the circle, though
the issue is technical. He also was
able to duplicate the cube by
finding two mean proportionals.
The Eleatic School

The Eleatic School from the

southern Italian city of Elea was
founded
by
Xenophanes
of
Colophon, but its chief tenets
appear first in Parmenides, the
second leader of the school.
Melissus was the third and last
leader of the school. Zeno of Elea
(c. 495 - c. 430 BCE), son of
Teleutagoras and pupil and friend
of Parmenides, no doubt strongly
influenced the school. Called by
Aristotle the inventor of dialectic,
he is universally known for his four
paradoxes. These, while perplexing
generations
of
thinkers,
contributed substantially to the
development
of
logical
and
mathematical rigor. They were
regarded as insoluble until the
development of precise concepts of
continuity and infinity.
It remains controversial that Zeno
was
arguing
against
the
Pythagoreans who believed in a
plurality composed of numbers that
were thought of as extended units.
The fact is that the logical
problems which his paradoxes raise
about a mathematical continuum
are serious, fundamental, and were
inadequately solved by Aristotle.
Zeno made use of three premises:
1. Any unit has magnitude
2. That it is infinitely divisible
3. That it is indivisible.

Yet he incorporated arguments for

each. In his hands, he had a very
powerful complex argument in the
form of a dilemma, one horn of
which supposed indivisibility, the
other infinite divisibility, both
leading to a contradiction of the
original hypothesis who brought to
the fore the contradictions between
the discrete and the continuous,
the
decomposable
and
indecomposable.
Zenos Paradoxes
Zeno constructed his paradoxes to
illustrate that current notions of
motion
are unclear, that whether one
viewed time or space as continuous
or
discrete,
there
are
contradictions. Paradoxes such as
these arose because mankind was
attempting to rationally understand
the notions of infinity for the first
time. The confusion centers around
what happens when the logic of the
finite (discrete) is used to treat the
infinite
(infinitesimal)
and
conversely, when the infinite is
perceived within the discrete
logical framework. They are
Dichotomy To get to a fixed
point one must cover the halfway
mark, and then the halfway mark
of what remains, etc.
Achilles Essentially the same for
a moving point.
Arrow An object in flight
occupies a space equal to itself but

that which occupies a space equal

to itself is not in motion.
Stade Suppose there is a
smallest instant of time. Then time
must be further divisible!
The Sophist School
The Sophist School (e480 BCE) was
centered in Athens, just after the
final defeat of the Persians.7 There
were many sophists and for many
years, say until 380 BCE, they were
the only source of higher education
in the more advanced Greek cities.
Of course such services were
provided for money. Their influence
waned as the philosophic schools,
such as Platos academy, grew in
prestige. Chief among the sophists
were
most
important
were
Protagoras,
Gorgias,
Antiphon,
Prodicus, and Thrasymachus. In
some regards Socrates must be
considered among them, or at least
a special category of one among
them. Plato emphasized, however,
that Socrates never accepted
money for knowledge. Greece
because Athens was a democracy,
young men needed instruction in
politics. Sophists provided that
instruction, teaching men how to
speak and what arguments to use
in public debate. A Sophistic
education became popular among
older families and the upwardly
mobile without
families. Among the instruction
given were ways to argue against
traditional

values, which Plato thought unfair

and
unjustified.
However,
he
learned that even to defend
traditional values, one must use a
reasoned argument, not appeals to
tradition and unreflecting faith.
The Trisectrix. Here is how to
construct the trisectrix. A rotating
arm begins at the vertical position
and rotates clockwise as a constant
rate to the 3 oclock position. A
horizontal bar falls from the top (12
oclock position) to the x-axis at a
constant rate, in the same time.
The locus of points where the
horizontal
bar
intersects
the
rotating arm traces the trisectrix.
(In the figure below, you may
assume that radian measure is
used with a (quarter) circle of
radius /2. Thus the time axis
ranges in [0, /2 ].)

The Platonic School

The Platonic School, the most
famous of all was founded by Plato
(427- 347BCE) in 387 BCE in

Athens as an institute for the

pursuit
of
philosophical
and
scientific teaching and research.
Plato, though not a mathematician,
encouraged
research
in
mathematics.
Pythagorean
forerunners
of
the
school,
Theodorus
of
Cyrene
and
Archytas10 of Tarentum, through
their teachings, produced a strong
Pythagorean influence in the entire
Platonic school. Little is known of
Platos personality and little can be
inferred from his writing. Said
Aristotle, certainly his most able
and famous student, Plato is a man
whom it is blasphemy in the base
even to praise. This meant that
even those of base standing in
society should not mention his
name, so noble was he. Much of
the most significant mathematical
work of the 4th century was
accomplished by colleagues or
pupils of Plato. Members of the
school included Menaechmus and
his brother
Dinostratus and Theaetetus(c.
415- 369 BCE) According to Proclus,
Menaechmus was one of those who
made the whole of geometry more
perfect.
The School of Eudoxus
The School of Eudoxus founded by
Eudoxus (c. 408 BCE), the most
famous of all the classical Greek
mathematicians and second only to
Archimedes.

Eudoxus
developed
the
theory of proportion, partly to
account for and study the
incommensurables
(irrationals).
He produced many theorems
in
plane
geometry
and
furthered
the
logical
organization of proof.
He also introduced the notion
of magnitude.
He gave the first rigorous
proof on the quadrature of
the circle. (Proposition. The
areas of two circles are as
the
squares
of
their
diameters.)

The School of Aristotle

The School of Aristotle, called the
Lyceum, founded by Aristotle (384322 BCE) followed the Platonic
school. It had a garden, a lecture
room, and an altar to the Muses. Of
his character more is known than
for others we have considered. He
seems to have been wealthy with
holdings from Stagira. Therefore,
he had the leisure to study. He
apparently used sums of money to
purchase books. So many books
did he read that Plato referred to
him as the reader, indicating a
bit of contempt or perhaps rivalry.
While still a member of Platos
academy, his early writings works
were dialogues were concerned
with thoughts of the next world and
the worthlessness of this one,
themes familiar to him from Platos

writing (e.g. Phaedo). Anecdotes

about him show him as a kindly
and affectionate. They show hardly
a trace of the self importance that
some scholars claim to detect in
his works. His will has survived and
exhibits the same kindly traits; he
references a happy family life and
takes solicitous care of his children,
as well as his servants. His
apparent joy of life is reflected in
the literary On Philosophy, which
was completed in about 348.
Afterwards,
he
devoted
his
energies to research, teaching, and
writing of technical treatises.
Aristotle set the philosophy of
physics, mathematics, and reality
on a foundations that would carry it
to modern times. He viewed the
sciences as being of three types
theoretical (math physics, logic
and metaphysics), productive (the
arts), and the practical (ethics,
politics).
He
contributed
little
mathematics however,

to

...his views on the nature of

mathematics and its relations to
the physical world were highly
influential. Whereas Plato believed
that there was an independent,
eternally existing world of ideas
which constituted the reality of the
universe and that mathematical
concepts were part of this world,

Aristotle favored concrete matter

or substance

problem of the
indecomposable
and decomposable.

Aristotle regards the notion of

definition as a significant aspect
of argument. He required that a
definition may not reference prior
objects. The following definition,

Aristotle makes the distinction

between potential infinity and
actual infinity. He states only the
former actually exists, in all
regards.

A point is that which has no part,

Aristotle is credited with the

invention of logic, through the
syllogism. He cites two laws
studied by every student.

which is the first definition from the

first book of Euclids Elements,
would be unacceptable. Aristotle
also treats the basic principles of
mathematics,
distinguishing
between axioms and postulates.
Axioms include the laws of
logic,
the
law
of
contradiction, etc.
The postulates need not be
self-evident, but their truth
must be sustained by the
results derived from them.
Euclid
uses
this
distinction.
Aristotle explored the relation of
the point to the line again the

1. The law of contradiction. (A

statement may not be T and F)
2. The law of the excluded middle.
(A statement must be T or F, there
is no other alternative.)
His logic remained unchallenged
until the 19th century. Even
Aristotle regarded logic as an
independent subject that should
precede science
and mathematics.
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