Part I: Dawn of Mathematics
The earliest mathematical traditions — from Babylonian clay tablets and Egyptian papyri to the sophisticated number systems of India and China.
Overview
Mathematics did not begin in a single place. Independently, civilizations across the ancient world developed counting systems, methods for measuring land, techniques for tracking the stars, and solutions to practical problems of trade and construction. These earliest traditions laid the foundations upon which all later mathematics was built.
Chapters
Chapter 1: Mesopotamia & Egypt
Sexagesimal arithmetic, Plimpton 322, the Rhind Papyrus, and the origins of algebra and geometry in the fertile crescent and Nile valley.
Chapter 2: Early Indian Mathematics
The Sulba Sutras, Aryabhata's sine table, the invention of zero and the decimal place-value system.
Chapter 3: Chinese Mathematics
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, rod calculus, the Chinese Remainder Theorem, and Liu Hui's approximation of pi.