The Nile often overflows and inundates fertile fields, and the rulers need to requisition and re-measure the land. In fact, the geometry of Egypt comes from this. Herodotus, a Greek historian (about 484-424 BC) clearly pointed out in his book History: "Strids and Soteras (1) distributed the land of Egypt to all Egyptians and residents. He distributed square land of the same size to everyone and asked the landowner to pay him rent every year. As his main tax, if the river overflows, the king will send someone to adjust the area of the lost lot. In this way, his rent will be collected according to the reduced land area. I think it is because of this that Egypt has geometry for the first time. " The Greeks learned this from there. The Greek mathematician Democritus (democritus, about 460-357 BC) once pointed out: "I have to believe.

The so-called harpedonaptai probably refers to the surveyor who takes the drawstring as the main tool.

In order to promote the development of agricultural production, Egyptians must pay attention to the flood cycle of the Nile. In practice, they have accumulated a lot of astronomical knowledge. For example, when they noticed that Sirius and the sun appeared at the same time, it was a sign that the Nile flood was coming. They believe that the interval between Sirius's two early morning rises is one year, including 365 days. Divide a year into 12 months, each month has 30 days and nights, and the sundial has been gradually explored to measure time. About 1500 BC, the water clock-clepsydra is a kind of container with holes in the bottom. Fill this container with water, and the time when the water flows out of the hole below is the unit of calculating time.

It can be inferred that the famous pyramids were built four or five thousand years ago BC. According to the study of its structure and shape, we can know that the Egyptians mastered a lot of geometric knowledge at that time, resulting in the length error of the base only 1.6 cm, which is the full length, and the right angle error of the base only 12 "or right angle. The four sides of the pyramid face southeast and northwest respectively, and the two sides of the square at the bottom are due north.

To sum up, the needs of actual production and life prompted the emergence of Egyptian mathematics.

The Application of Egyptian Mathematics and Its Contribution to the Development of Mathematics

1, Egyptian application of mathematics

Mathematics in Egypt comes from actual production and life, and they apply the acquired mathematical knowledge to practice.

Egyptians applied mathematics to the management of state and church affairs. For example, they pay workers, calculate the volume of grain and the area of fields, collect local taxes estimated according to the area of land, and calculate the number of bricks for building houses and defense projects.

Apply science to the calculation of brewing and so on. The term "pesu" is the amount of wine or bread produced by a unit grain. Calculate according to the following method:

Number of grains × ratio = number of alcohol (or number of bread)

In these simple calculations, units need to be converted.

Apply mathematics to astronomical calculation. Since the first dynasty, the Nile has been the source of life for the Egyptians. Trying to accurately predict the date of the great flood requires a lot of calculations. They combined geometric knowledge and used it to build temples, so that the sun could shine on the temples in a certain way on certain days of the year.

2. Egyptians' contribution to the development of mathematics.

When we review the emergence and development of Egyptian mathematics, it is not difficult to see that they have made some contributions to the development of mathematics in later generations. Among them, Greek mathematics, which has a great influence on the development of mathematics, also draws lessons from Egyptian mathematics. For example, the Greeks learned the specific method of multiplication and the calculation of unit fraction in Egypt.

The Egyptians did not systematize the scattered knowledge of mathematics, making it an independent subject, but only as a tool. Simple laws with no formal connection are used to solve the problems people encounter in their daily lives. The main contributions of the Egyptians to mathematics can be summarized as follows:

⑴ Four operations in a specific way are basically completed and extended to fractions, and a method for finding approximate square roots is found.

(2) They can deal with some types of quadratic equations with one variable by arithmetic.

They have mastered the knowledge of arithmetic progression and geometric numbers.

⑷ In geometry, some quadrature methods of plane and solid figures are obtained.

5] Take the value of pi (at that time) and correctly understand the problem of dividing a circle into several equal parts.

[6] They are already familiar with the basic principle of proportion, and some mathematical historians also believe that Egyptian mathematics has sprouted trigonometric functions.

In addition to the above mathematical formulas and achievements, Egyptians and Babylonians also applied mathematics to real life. They use papyrus and clay tablets to record accounts, promissory notes, credit cards, sales documents, mortgage contracts, outstanding payments and profit distribution. Arithmetic and algebra are used in commercial transactions, while geometric formulas are used to calculate land area and grain stored in circular warehouses or conical bags. Of course, regardless of the Egyptian pyramids,

Before mathematics and astronomy were used to calculate calendars and sail, human curiosity and fear of natural instinct existed for a long time. Driven by irresistible impulse, they observed the movements of the sun, moon and stars year after year. Egyptians already know that there are 365 days in a year, and they also know and master the seasonal changes. People predict the time when the Nile will flood by observing the position and angle of the sun. By identifying the position and direction of the stars, we can determine the direction of the ship in the ocean (Mediterranean or Red Sea).

On the other hand, in Babylon and Egypt, the relationship between mathematics and painting, architecture, religion and the exploration of nature is not inferior to the application of mathematics in commerce and agriculture in terms of closeness and importance. The priests in Babylon and Egypt mastered the mathematical principles, but they kept this knowledge secret. They only impart this knowledge orally, thus intensifying the awe of the ruling class among the people. In this way, especially compared with the civilization without the rule of the monk class.

Of course, religious mysticism itself is also curious about the nature of natural numbers and regards numbers as an important medium to express mysticism. It is generally believed that Babylonian priests invented this mysterious and even magical theory about numbers, which was later used and developed by the Hebrews. For example, the number 7 was first noticed by the Babylonians, and it was a harmonious point between the power of God and the complex nature. In the hands of the Hebrews, seven became a week's number. "

It can be said that the endless needs and interests of human beings, coupled with uncontrollable meditation on the sky, have inspired their own mathematical inspiration and potential. Coincidentally, there are mathematical laws in nature itself, or in the form of mathematics. In this way, it is easier for us to understand that mathematics not only comes from the needs of people's survival, but will eventually return to this world.