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    Mathematics in ancient Egypt : a contextual history / Annette Imhausen.

    • Title:Mathematics in ancient Egypt : a contextual history / Annette Imhausen.
    •    
    • Author/Creator:Imhausen, Annette, author.
    • Published/Created:Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2016]
    • Holdings

       
    • Library of Congress Subjects:Mathematics, Egyptian.
      Mathematics--History.
    • Description:xi, 234 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
    • Summary:"Mathematics in Ancient Egypt traces the development of Egyptian mathematics, from the end of the fourth millennium BC--and the earliest hints of writing and number notation--to the end of the pharaonic period in Greco-Roman times. Drawing from mathematical texts, architectural drawings, administrative documents, and other sources, Annette Imhausen surveys three thousand years of Egyptian history to present an integrated picture of theoretical mathematics in relation to the daily practices of Egyptian life and social structures. Imhausen shows that from the earliest beginnings, pharaonic civilization used numerical techniques to efficiently control and use their material resources and labor. Even during the Old Kingdom, a variety of metrological systems had already been devised. By the Middle Kingdom, procedures had been established to teach mathematical techniques to scribes in order to make them proficient administrators for their king. Imhausen looks at counterparts to the notation of zero, suggests an explanation for the evolution of unit fractions, and analyzes concepts of arithmetic techniques. She draws connections and comparisons to Mesopotamian mathematics, examines which individuals in Egyptian society held mathematical knowledge, and considers which scribes were trained in mathematical ideas and why. Of interest to historians of mathematics, mathematicians, Egyptologists, and all those curious about Egyptian culture, Mathematics in Ancient Egypt sheds new light on a civilization's unique mathematical evolution"--Publisher's description.
    • Notes:Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
    • ISBN:9780691117133 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
      0691117136 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
    • Contents:Machine generated contents note: 0. Introduction
      0.1. Past Historiography
      0.2. Aims of This Study
      PREHISTORIC AND EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD
      1. Invention of Writing and Number Notation
      2. Egyptian Number System
      3. Uses of Numbers and Their Contexts in Predynastic and Early Dynastic Times
      4. Summary
      OLD KINGDOM
      5. Cultural Context of Egyptian Mathematics in the Old Kingdom
      6. Metrological Systems
      6.1. Length Units
      6.2. Area Units
      6.3. Capacity Units
      6.4. Weights
      7. Notation of Fractions
      8. Summary
      MIDDLE KINGDOM
      9. Mathematical Texts (I): The Mathematical Training of Scribes
      9.1. Extant Hieratic Mathematical Texts
      9.1.1. Rhind Mathematical Papyrus
      9.1.2. Lahun Mathematical Fragments
      9.1.3. Papyrus Berlin 6619
      9.1.4. Cairo Wooden Boards
      9.1.5. Mathematical Leather Roll
      9.1.6. Moscow Mathematical Papyrus
      9.2. Teaching Mathematics: Mathematical Procedure Texts
      9.2.1. Formal Elements of a Procedure Text
      9.2.2. Collections of Procedure Texts
      9.3. Types of Mathematical Problems
      10. Foundation of Mathematics
      10.1. Arithmetic Techniques
      10.1.1. Multiplication of Integers
      10.1.2. Division of Integers
      10.2. Fraction Reckoning
      10.2.1. Multiplications and Divisions Involving Fractions
      10.2.2. Using Auxiliary Numbers
      10.3. Tables for Fraction Reckoning
      10.3.1. 2 n Table
      10.3.2. Mathematical Leather Roll
      10.4. Metrological Tables
      10.5. Summary
      11. Mathematics in Practice and Beyond
      11.1. DistributionofRations
      11.1.1. Ration Problems within the Mathematical Texts
      11.1.2. Calculation of Rations in Papyrus Berlin 10005
      11.1.3. Further Evidence
      11.2. Architectural Calculations
      11.2.1. Architectural Problems within the Mathematical Texts
      11.2.2. Mathematics of Papyrus Reisner I
      11.3. Land Measurement
      11.3.1. Area Calculations within the Mathematical Texts
      11.3.2. Evidence of Land Surveying
      11.4. Summary
      NEW KINGDOM
      12. New Kingdom Mathematical Texts: Ostraca Senmut 153 and Turin 57170
      13. Two Examples of Administrative Texts
      13.1. Papyrus Harris I
      13.2. Papyrus Wilbour
      14. Mathematics in Literature
      14.1. Mathematical Education
      14.2. Mathematics in the Scribe's Daily Work
      14.3. Mathematics in Papyrus Anastasi I
      14.3.1. Digging a Lake (Papyrus Anastasi I, 13,6
      13,7)
      14.3.2. Constructing a Brick Ramp (Papyrus Anastasi I, 13,8
      14,8)
      14.3.3. Transport of an Obelisk (Papyrus Anastasi I, 14,8
      16,5)
      14.3.4. Erection of a Colossal Monument (Papyrus Anastasi I, 16,8
      17,2)
      14.3.5. Rations for an Expedition (Papyrus Anastasi I, 17,2
      18,2)
      15. Further Aspects of Mathematics from New Kingdom Sources
      15.1. Mathematics and Wisdom Literature: Metrology in the Teaching of Amenemope
      15.2. Mathematics in the Duties of the Vizier
      15.3. Mathematics and Death
      15.4. Mathematics in Architecture and Art
      16. Summary
      GRECO-ROMAN PERIODS
      17. Mathematical Texts (II): Tradition, Transmission, Development
      17.1. Overview of Extant Demotic Mathematical Papyri
      17.1.1. Papyrus Cairo JE 89127-30, 89137-43
      17.1.2. Papyrus BM 10399
      17.1.3. Papyrus BM 10520
      17.1.4. Papyrus BM 10794
      17.1.5. Papyrus Carlsberg 30
      17.1.6. Papyrus Griffith I E7
      17.1.7. Papyrus Heidelberg 663
      17.2. Demotic Arithmetic
      17.2.1. Multiplication
      17.2.2. Division (and a Note on Types of Fractions)
      17.3. Selected Examples of Demotic Mathematical Problems
      17.3.1. Calculation of Areas
      17.3.2. Pole-against-the-Wall Problems
      18. Conclusion: Egyptian Mathematics in Historical Perspective.
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