Ancient Mathematics: Triangles in Egypt
- Aug 29, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 24, 2021
Have you ever wondered what the very first
looked like? Or how
did things like measure distances, count numbers, and compute algebra without modern tools like rulers and calculators? When you see pictures of the
ian pyramids--or maybe you’ve even seen them for yourself!--have you ever thought, “How on earth did people build that?”
If so, you’re not the only one! Even still today, historians and scientists are baffled by the massive size and precision of the pyramids. But thanks to some manuscripts left behind, we can piece together the kind
.
Why study ancient math?
We often think of scientific discoveries as being linear, meaning that whoever is credited with first coming up with a concept must have been the only one to have ever thought of it. But the truth is, many different cultures throughout history learned about things like the
long before they got the names we recognize today.
People from
had a lot of the same problems we have now--they needed to measure land, divide resources, build sturdy structures, and track the changing seasons and weather. These practical matters are what inspired the first, ancient
to create their own number systems and arithmetic. It can be hard to imagine a kind of math that looks different from what we learn in schools today. But luckily, ancient cultures left behind a lot of artifacts and documents that we can learn from!
One of the incredible things about math is that its rules and principles mostly stay the same throughout history. This means that the math used by ancient peoples is, at its core, the same math we use today. We’ll take a closer look at how concepts like the
were used across the world. As we’ll find out, there are many instances where mathematical concepts were “discovered” around the same time in completely different parts of the world!
Why is it important to learn about the history of mathematics? Well, it can help us gain an appreciation for the ways math has brought humanity together. Some people call math the “
,” because it can be shared across all cultures regardless of the barriers of different languages and dialects.
The Right Angle for Sturdy Buildings
The kind of ancient mathematics we’ll look at in this post
B.C.E. This was around the time of the very first recorded mathematics historians have ever found. Even though it was so long ago, many
were incredibly advanced and created all kinds of art, music, science, writing, and architecture. One
.
Building houses, shelters, temples, and gathering spaces is an important part of any community. Just like modern day construction workers you see along the street,
learned that they needed to construct perfect right angles to ensure the stability of their buildings, including the pyramids. If you’ve ever tried to build a sand castle, Lego house, or played with wooden blocks, you know that crooked towers fall over easily.
(Pre-) Pythagorean Theorem
The
are related to each other. Remember that a right triangle is one with a perfectly straight corner measuring 90°.
The longest side--the diagonal side--of a
. If you measure the lengths of all three sides of a right triangle, there’s a special relationship between those three measurements. The square of one side’s length plus the square of the other side’s length is equal to the square of the hypotenuse’s length.
Together, the group of lengths a, b, and c are called a
. One example of a Pythagorean triple is a=
:
A Modern Perspective
It’s fascinating to see how some of the world’s first
started to make sense of concepts we are so familiar with today. We sometimes take for granted our understanding of
, but it was once part of groundbreaking discoveries.
As you continue your study of math, you might notice that the ways you learn about
kept track of their work. But when we look at the history of mathematics as a whole, we can see the beautiful ways that different people came to understand the same ideas. It truly is all connected into our united human experience!
In the next post we’ll dive deeper into how
. In the future we'll learn about the differences between
. In the meantime, keep an eye out for evidence of ancient wisdom coming through in our everyday life--you might just find that
isn’t so mysterious after all!
Credits :
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicole Naporano
Edited by Madelyn Leembruggen
Explore the usefulness of
with these activities!
Define (5-15 minutes): Types of Triangles
Expand (10-20 minutes): Can you come up with another example of a
? How many examples can you find?
Interact (15-30 minutes): Make your own
like the example in the post! What can you measure with it?
Explore (30-60 minutes): Gather examples of
from cultures across the globe.
