Greek mathematics

Greek mathematics refers to mathematics texts and ideas stemming from the Archaic through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, mostly attested from the late 7th century BC to the 6th century AD, around the shores of the Mediterranean. Greek mathematicians lived in cities spread over the entire region, from Anatolia to Italy and North Africa, but were united by Greek culture and the Greek language. The development of mathematics as a theoretical discipline and the use of proofs is an important difference between Greek mathematics and those of preceding civilizations. Origins and etymology Greek mathēmatikē ("mathematics") derives from the máthēma, má.tʰɛː.ma ˈma.θi.ma, from the verb manthanein, "to learn". Strictly speaking, a máthēma could be any branch of learning, or anything learnt; however, since antiquity certain mathēmata (mainly arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and harmonics) were granted special status. The origins of Greek mathematics are not well documented. The earl

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Le "Fragmentum de inventionibus scientiarum" de Diego Palomino

Nouara Chekhar

The objective of this PhD thesis is the translation of, and the mathematical commentary on, a 16th-century Latin book. Its author, Diego Palomino is not well known. With a background in theology, he was a prior. In order to obtain his PhD at the University of Alcala (Madrid), he submitted a work, De mutations æris, in which he included a collection of what seems to be readings notes, entitled Fragmentum de inventionibus scientiarum. His readings have been drawn from various famous mathematicians of his time and ancient ones. The originality of his work relies mostly on his inventiveness and his style —which can be sarcastic— making the reading of it quite interesting and lively. His work consists for the main part in explaining some unclear demonstrations, or bringing new methods of solution ; he also innovates in solving pairs of indeterminate equations by providing the complete set of integral solutions. Before him, only one mathematician (Abu ̄ K ̄amil, at the end of the 10th century) did so, the other mathematicians restricting themselves to giving only one solution or a pair. Palomino did not hesitate in criticizing a well-established theory in ancient mathematics, namely Archimedes —although his critics seem to rely on a faulty edition. His book is entitled to have a significant place in the history of mathematics, for it both maintains the rigor of Greek classical mathematics and announces innovation, as did the 17th century, culminating with the discovery of the infinitesimal calculus.

EPFL2012

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