Mathematics in Ancient Egypt : A Contextual History / Annette Imhausen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Imhausen, Annette, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematics, Egyptian.

Mathematics--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (249 p.)

Edition:

Pilot project. eBook available to selected US libraries only

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2016]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Mathematics in Ancient Egypt traces the development of Egyptian mathematics, from the end of the fourth millennium BC-and the earliest hints of writing and number notation-to the end of the pharaonic period in Greco-Roman times. Drawing from mathematical texts, architectural drawings, administrative documents, and other sources, Annette Imhausen surveys three thousand years of Egyptian history to present an integrated picture of theoretical mathematics in relation to the daily practices of Egyptian life and social structures.Imhausen shows that from the earliest beginnings, pharaonic civilization used numerical techniques to efficiently control and use their material resources and labor. Even during the Old Kingdom, a variety of metrological systems had already been devised. By the Middle Kingdom, procedures had been established to teach mathematical techniques to scribes in order to make them proficient administrators for their king. Imhausen looks at counterparts to the notation of zero, suggests an explanation for the evolution of unit fractions, and analyzes concepts of arithmetic techniques. She draws connections and comparisons to Mesopotamian mathematics, examines which individuals in Egyptian society held mathematical knowledge, and considers which scribes were trained in mathematical ideas and why.Of interest to historians of mathematics, mathematicians, Egyptologists, and all those curious about Egyptian culture, Mathematics in Ancient Egypt sheds new light on a civilization's unique mathematical evolution.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

PREHISTORIC AND EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD

1.The Invention of Writing and Number Notation

2. The Egyptian Number System

3. Uses of Numbers and their Contexts in Predynastic and Early Dynastic Times

4. Summary

OLD KINGDOM

5. The Cultural Context of Egyptian Mathematics in the Old Kingdom

6. Metrological Systems

7. Notation of Fractions

8. Summary

MIDDLE KINGDOM

9. Mathematical Texts (I): The Mathematical Training of Scribes

10. Foundation of Mathematics

11. Mathematics in Practice and Beyond

NEW KINGDOM

12. New Kingdom Mathematical Texts: Ostraca Senmut 153 and Turin 57170

13. Two Examples of Administrative Texts

14. Mathematics in Literature

15. Further Aspects of Mathematics from New Kingdom Sources

16. Summary

GRECO-ROMAN PERIODS

17. Mathematical Texts (II): Tradition, Transmission, Development

18. Conclusion: Egyptian Mathematics in Historical Perspective

Bibliography

Subject Index

Egyptian Words and Phrases Index

Index of Mathematical Texts

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

9781400874309

1400874300

OCLC:

935259840