R: [HM] Vedic mathematics?
Luigi Borzacchini (gibi@pascal.dm.uniba.it)
Tue, 24 Nov 1998 09:42:42 +-100
>
>I've got a student from the subcontinent who tells me that in Vedic
>mathematics, there was a method for solving equations that sort of
>resembled the way Europeans used determinants, but that since there was
>no proof or justification for these procedures in India, that Europeans
>did not take them seriously when they learned of them. Does anyone on the
>list know anything about this topic?
>
>Warren Schmaus
>Professor of Philosophy
>Department of Humanities
>Illinois Institute of Technology
>3301 S Dearborn
>Chicago, IL 60616
>(312) 567-3473
>Fax: (312) 567-5187
>schmaus@charlie.iit.edu
>
David J. Stump
Department of Philosophy
University of San Francisco phone (415) 422-6153
San Francisco, CA 94118 FAX (415) 422-2346
USA email stumpd@usfca.edu
It could be something similar to the Chinese methods, which did not employ variables, but matricial-like configurations.
These methods can be found in many books (for example Matzloff's "Hisytory of Chinese Mathematics" or the third volume of Needham's "Science and Civilization in China")
Luigi Borzacchini