Mathematics is the abstract study of topics encompassing quantity, structure, space, change, and other properties. It is a prerequisite for theoretical contributions in many other sciences and disciplines.
0
votes
2answers
155 views
Did the pope try to suppress the number zero?
What evidence exists to indicate that the Pope attempted to suppress the number zero?
In an editorial review, Rob Lightner claims that "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea", by Charles Seife, ...
10
votes
1answer
131 views
Was the State of Indiana's legislation changed to fix the value of Pi?
Is the following an anecdote?
Mathematicians describe Pi as an irrational number, that is, a number that cannot be expressed as the ratio of any two integers. This was an irksome fact to the State ...
3
votes
1answer
81 views
Did Pythagoras visit Judaea, Arabia, and/or India?
From Wikipedia's page on Pythagoras:
Diogenes Laertius reported that Pythagoras had undertaken extensive travels, and had visited not only Egypt, but Arabia, Phoenicia, Judaea, Babylon, and even ...
14
votes
2answers
142 views
Babylonian tablets
The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive writes
Two tablets found at Senkerah on the Euphrates in 1854 date from 2000 BC. They give squares of the numbers up to 59 and cubes of the numbers up ...
21
votes
2answers
488 views
What is the origin of the “wheat and chessboard” legend?
The "wheat and chessboard" fable describes a geometric problem that is often quoted in stories about the invention of chess. According to Wikipedia, the main theme of the fable is:
When the ...
3
votes
1answer
165 views
How did Columbus calculate the size of the Earth?
Eratosthenes' calculations of the size of the Earth were very precise and very accepted during Columbus' time. Still, Columbus was convinced that the world was significatively smaller and that getting ...
6
votes
1answer
102 views
Vigenere vs. Bellaso
I noticed on the Wikipedia article for the Vigenere cipher, that:
The Vigenère (French pronunciation: [viʒnɛːʁ]) cipher has been
reinvented many times. The method was originally described by ...
7
votes
1answer
289 views
How far into the past was significance ascribed to the Golden Ratio?
I think everyone knows about the golden ratio or the divine proportion (I got to know more about it after reading the wikipedia article on it). It's present everywhere in nature and also in the human ...
11
votes
2answers
286 views
Early history of prime numbers
Prime numbers are those whole numbers greater than 1 which cannot be written as a product of numbers greater than 1. I'm curious about their very early history, say 200 BC and earlier. What I know:
...
16
votes
1answer
149 views
What were tally sticks?
What were tally sticks, and how was it that they they worked for the economy? I understand that they were a form of currency and were of fixed value based on the notches, but how did they work as a ...
