March 11, 2017 Saturday
Bedtime Story
The Italian Era of Mathematics (1200s to 1500s)
Mathematics must have been a hobby for Vieta since he used to work
on it either at nights or during his leisure.
I mean he did not do mathematics at a university level nor did he
really train pupil in mathematics accept for that one child of a Royal family
which is most likely did to gain access to the upper crust of the French
society.
It was almost the way that I do my bedtime stories since these
bedtime stories neither feed me nor give me any kind of recognition (they are
largely ignored is my best assessment).
Hobby it may have been but whenever he did work on it, it was with
intensity and concentration that would defy imagination.
His friend Jacques de Thou who was his friend and also a historian
writes that Vieta when focused on a mathematical problem would work on it for
hours and even for as long as three days with his elbow on the desk.
He would even feed himself in more or less in the same position
without taking a bath or changing his clothes.
I am positive that none of showed this intensity of work and
concentration even while studying for the entrance exams to the medical or
engineering colleges that would define our lives.
Vieta was well versed with the geometry of Greeks and the
arithmetic of the Arabs.
Post Arab, the center of mathematics had shifted to Italy after
Fibonacci.
Between the time of Fibonacci 1202 and Vieta 1591, Italy produced
a series of great mathematicians:
1. Luca Pacioli (1447 to 1517) – is known as “The Father of
Accounting and Book Keeping”.
He apparently is credited to be the first person to publish a
formal treaty on the double-entry system of book keeping.
He was even a mentor to the formidable Leonardo da Vinci in the
subject of mathematics.
2. Scipione del Ferro (1465 to 1526) – was the first to find the
solution to a depressed cubic equation.
Depressed cubic equation for positive integers p, q and x look as
follows:
x3 + px = q
x3 = px + q
3. Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia (1500 to 1557) – I had written on
this Tartaglia the stammerer and his conflict with Gerolamo Cardano regarding
the solution of cubic equations.
4. Ludovico Ferrari (1522 to 1565) – worked on the solutions of
the quadratic equations and the cubic equations.
5. Raphael Bombelli (1526 to 1572) – I will write on him in the
nights to come.
Time is short mon ami.
So much to be written on so fabulous a minds that came before us and
who remain largely forgotten.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.in/
Good night mon ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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