Crest of the Peacock

The first thing that surprised me was the ignorance of research pointing to the development mathematics in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and the sole focus of the classic Eurocentric view that mathematics is a "product of European civilization." I had never heard of such a view establishing Europeans as the sole developers of mathematics as stated in Figure 1.1.

Another astonishing notion was the fact India was a key centric geographic location for the transmission of the mathematic ideas, and that the Indian had established itself significantly before the Ptolemaic Egypt and Rome's Eastern empire had established itself. I had no idea India had such an influence on European sciences and medical studies, where Greeks highly regarded India's studies on medicine.

I think it was also fascinating to learn of the medium of transmission which the Arabs played in transporting key mathematical concepts originating from India and China. In all honesty, I had never delved much into the transmission of mathematical knowledge, however, I did know vaguely that mathematics had independent origins in the Fertile Crescent vicinity yet I was unaware of its mode of dispersion across to Europe.


Comments

  1. Susan GerofskySeptember 16, 2019 at 11:42 AM

    Good thoughts, well said, Jovan! I hope that this course will help to introduce everyone to some of the sources of mathematics from India, China, the Arab world and many other cultures and places.

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