In
the second instalment for the documentary, BBC: The Story of Maths− The Genius
of the East− Marcus Du Sautoy visited another four places that have contributed
to the numbers and calculations we have today. The episode was entitled ‘The
Genius of the East’, where it focuses in China, India, Islamic empire and a
glimpse of the European contribution in mathematics.
When Greece fell, the development of
mathematics in the western area came into a halt. But on the other side of the
world, numerical patterns and calculations began to evolve rapidly. This has
been the time for the eastern people to make their own name in the world of
numbers. The episode shared some untold stories of mathematics in the east that
transformed the west and gave way to the birth of the modern world.
Chinese people, even in the earliest
day, have come to realize the importance of calculations and measurements. For
them to build the Great of Wall of China, calculations for distances,
angles of elevation and amounts of material needed were calculated. During
their time, they have realized the significance of the decimal place value
which makes calculations easier and faster. This system is greatly the same as
to what we use today. But in writing numbers, decimal place value was still not
used instead, like the other civilizations that had been visited on the
previous episode, they used symbols. Numbers played a very important role in
the imperial China. Emperors depended on the exact numbers or patterns for them
to make decisions and even they’re slightest movements in their everyday life.
For them, numbers held cosmic significance and that they have believed that
some are lucky and some are not.
In the second destination, India, decimal place value was
also used. It is believed that they may have learned it from the Chinese
merchants that have visited them in the past. What is fascinating about the
contribution of Indian is that they are the first to acknowledge the value of
zero. Unlike the other civilizations, they did not treat zero as a void. It was
around the 9th century that this number was developed. Negative
numbers was also invented and also the concept of trigonometry.
As for the Islamic empire, they have contributed the
principle of Algebra. They believed that it explains the patterns of the
behaviors of the numbers. For the last destination, Du Sautoy visited Italy,
where Hindu-arabic numerical system was developed. At that time, Western people
used the Roman numeral system in writing the numbers. This episode was able to
show and relay the importance of numbers in the early era. In China, it is
fascinating that numbers can be this influential where even the emperor relies
on its patterns and concepts for the fate of his empire.
Sadly enough, much of these discoveries and developments
in numbers that had been contributed by the brilliant people of the eastern
part of the world, are not acknowledge enough. Instead, most of these are taken
credit by some western mathematicians and that the true mind behind each
principles and concepts are forgotten. But with this episode, the history has
been finally told. People that should receive the credits were mentioned and
given emphasis on their fields. With this, they can surely will not be
forgotten and disregarded from the mathematical history.
Nice! Nakinig ka pala talaga sa movie (joke lang). Tama talaga na maka-sad, hindi na acknowledge enough ang efforts nila kay mka-west ang mga people.
ReplyDeleteNice work yo, keep it up~
~(o3o)~
Tama! Go asiaaans! Masyado kasi colonial ang thinking natin. But through this movie, naopen ang minds natin na hindi lang mga western people ang matatalino. Even us, asians. Undoubtedly! Go go go.:))
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to know that the contribution of the Orients were forgotten to acknowledge by the West. They owe much from the Asians. History itself sometimes is bias depending on the writer. You have highlighted the keypoints of each civilization. This blog is worth reading. Keep Writing! :D
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