A History of Greek Mathematics and Astronomy

Page 9

In astronomy Thales predicted a solar eclipse which was probably that of the 28th May 585 B. C. Now the Babylonians, as the result of observations continued through centuries, had discovered the period of 223 lunations after which eclipses recur. It is most likely therefore that Thales had heard of this period, and that his prediction was based upon it. He is further said to have used the Little Bear for finding the pole, to have discovered the inequality of the four astronomical seasons, and to have written works On the Equinox and On the Solstice.

After Thales come the Pythagoreans. Of the Pythagoreans Aristotle says that they applied themselves to the study of mathematics and were the first to advance that science, going so far as to find in the principles of mathematics the principles of all existing things. Of Pythagoras himself we are told that he attached supreme importance to the study of arithmetic, advancing it and taking it out of the region of practical utility, and again that he transformed the study of geometry into a liberal education, examining the principles of the science from the beginning.

The very word μαθηματα {mathêmata}, which originally meant 'subjects of instruction' generally, is said to have been first appropriated to mathematics by the Pythagoreans.

In saying that arithmetic began with Pythagoras we have to distinguish between the uses of that word then and now. Αριθμητικη {Arithmêtikê} with the Greeks was distinguished from λογιστικη {logistikê}, the science of calculation. It is the latter word which would cover arithmetic in our sense, or practical calculation; the term αριθμητικη {arithmêtikê} was restricted to the science of numbers considered in themselves, or, as we should say, the Theory of Numbers. Another way of putting the distinction was to say that αριθμητικη {arithmêtikê} dealt with absolute numbers or numbers in the abstract, and λογιστικη {logistikê} with numbered things or concrete numbers; thus λογιστικη {logistikê} included simple problems about numbers of apples, bowls, or objects generally, such as are found in the Greek Anthology and sometimes involve simple algebraical equations.

Previous Page / First / Next

T. L. Heath
A History of Greek Mathematics and Astronomy

Learned Freeware

T. L. Heath A History of Greek Mathematics and Astronomy

Learned Freeware

T. L. Heath
A History of Greek Mathematics and Astronomy