A summation algorithm from 11th century China. Possible relations between structure and argument

Bréard A (2008)

Publication Type: Conference contribution, Original article

Publication year: 2008

Journal

Lecture Notes in Computer Science Springer Verlag

Book Volume: 5028 LNCS

Pages Range: 77-83

Conference Proceedings Title: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

ISBN: 3540694056

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-69407-6_8

Abstract

Mathematical writings in China relied entirely on the algorithmic mode to express sequences of operations, to justify the correctness of these, and to bring mathematical objects in relation one to another. In this paper, I shall use one example to show how the structural elements in an algorithm convey a mathematical meaning and can be interpreted in the light of the ancient Chinese geometrical tradition. The example stems from an 11^th century text by Shen Gua and calculates the number of kegs of wine piled up in the form of a truncated pyramid with a rectangular base. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Authors with CRIS profile

Andrea Bréard

Additional Organisation(s)

Chair for Sinology with a focus on the Intellectual and Cultural History of China (Alexander von Humboldt-Professor)

Involved external institutions

LILLE 1 University - Science and Technology

France (FR)

How to cite

APA:

Bréard, A. (2008). A summation algorithm from 11th century China. Possible relations between structure and argument. In Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics) (pp. 77-83).

MLA:

Bréard, Andrea. "A summation algorithm from 11th century China. Possible relations between structure and argument." Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Computability in Europe, CiE 2008 2008. 77-83.

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