So if I'm understanding correctly, this is evidence that about 300 years after the death of Pythagoras, his proof "travelled" over the silk road to China?
Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
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Re: Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
#12Any ideas of it's authentic? China is hyper nationalist so I'm initially skeptical. Might be as fictitous as their GDP figures or sovereignty over Taiwan.
> hyper nationalist
Says Americans, biggest lovers on this planet for their own national flag. /s
Re: Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
#13I worry that China is outcompeting us.
Who is "us"?
Re: Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
#14Any ideas of it's authentic? China is hyper nationalist so I'm initially skeptical. Might be as fictitous as their GDP figures or sovereignty over Taiwan.
> sovereignty over Taiwan This is the claim that China and Taiwan should reunite since the PRC drove the Nationalist Party out of mainland China. It isn't fictitious, it's merely a political wish to merge the two from the PRC side. Similarly, some Nationalists in Taiwan are happy to take back mainland China, as much as the country is divided on whether Taiwan should remain as it is, or should declare its full indepen…
Doesn't the PRC's claim on Taiwan boil down to a combination of right-of-conquest ("Taiwan belonged to the Republic of China, we beat up the Republic of China, therefore Taiwan is ours") and Just Because? ("The PRC is the only legitimate Chinese government because the PRC says so")
I'm very skeptical of purely historical claims of sovereignty. If the people of Taiwan legitimately vote to join the PRC, that's their right, but the PRC has no legitimate right to demand it.
Re: Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
#15Re: Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
#16It was true then...
However paper itself was invented around the same time. How come bookbinding already existed then?
Re: Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
#17So if I'm understanding correctly, this is evidence that about 300 years after the death of Pythagoras, his proof "travelled" over the silk road to China?
Or it was independently recreated.
Re: Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
#18So if I'm understanding correctly, this is evidence that about 300 years after the death of Pythagoras, his proof "travelled" over the silk road to China?
There’s evidence that the “Pythagorean Theorem” was known in Mesopotamia a millennium before Pythagoras. It was likely widely known in the ancient world.
The Greeks wrote their mathematical ideas in a different way than other cultures, so the answers to these questions aren’t completely clear-cut.
Re: Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
#19I worry that China is outcompeting us.
According to this editorial, China will be the global tech leader soon (if it isn't already):
http://www.scmp.com/business/global-economy/article/2081771/...
Re: Pythagorean Theorem proof in a 2100 year old Chinese book
#20It was true then... http://abstrusegoose.com/376 However paper itself was invented around the same time. How come bookbinding already existed then?
Ah, Stigler's Law of Eponymy