Zhao Youqin and his calculation of \(\pi\)
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: Zhao Youqin and his calculation of \(\pi\)
zbMATH Open document ID: 0885.01006
published in: Historia Mathematica
publication date: 1998-04-20T00:00:00Z
review text: Zhao Youqin (1271-?) composed one of the two medieval Chinese texts describing procedures to determine approximate values of \(\pi\) that came down to us. The purpose of the paper is twofold. First, the author sketches a biography of this Chinese polymath who contributed to mathematics, astronomy, optics, alchemy, but also was one of the patriarchs of the Quanzhen shool of Song-Yuan Daoism. Second, A. Volkov analyses Zhao's text devoted to \(\pi\). He shows in which respect Zhao's procedure differs from the earlier one by Liu Hui (3rd century). Moreover, A. Volkov strives to reconstruct the way in which Zhao Youqin actually performed his computations and, in connection with this, his motivations for dealing with this topic. An appendix offers a richly annotated translation of the Chinese text.
reviewed by: Karine Chemla
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A25
zbMATH DE Number: 1078152
zbMATH Keywords: \(\pi\)
zbMATH Keywords: Zhao Youqin
zbMATH Keywords: Liu Hui
zbMATH Keywords: Zu Chang Zhi
zbMATH Keywords: algorithms
author: Alexei Volkov
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: hmat.1997.2163
OpenAlex ID: W2015878745
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DOI: 10.1006/HMAT.1997.2163
description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1078152