Mathematical commentaries in the ancient world : a global perspective / edited by Karine Chemla, Centre National de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Paris, Glenn W. Most, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa (retired).

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Chemla, Karine, editor.

Most, Glenn W., editor.

Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Multiple languages

Subjects (All):

Mathematics--Philosophy.

Mathematics.

Physical Description:

x, 464 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2022.

Language Note:

Text in Chinese, Sanskrit, Akkadian, Sumerian and Ancient Greek with English translations.

Summary:

"Doubtless, when many modern readers hear the word "commentaries," they are likely to think in the first instance of exegetical texts composed about writings like Aristotle's or Homer's or the Bible. But in fact the genre of commentaries was not limited to philosophy or literature or theology. On the contrary, even in the mathematical and medical sciences, for example, writing a commentary on someone else's text was an activity that was also fre.uently performed by practitioners. This was not only because these scientific disciplines were tightly connected with other fields of scholarship, but also because writing in the genres of commentarie was a practice shared in common by most forms of institutionalized intellectual pursuits. The geographic distribution of this genre of writing is another striking phenomenon, since commentaries have actually represented a worldwide phenomenon, or almost so. They are found among cuneiform writings, at least from the first millennium BCE. They are also encountered among Chinese sources, at least after the establishment of the Empire in the third century CE. They likewise exist in ancient Greek, Arabic, Latin, and Sanskrit, until at least early modern times"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Mathematical commentaries in the ancient world

ISBN:

9781108839570

1108839576

9781108813426

1108813429

OCLC:

1281654230

Publisher Number:

99991363715