Did Egyptian scribes have an algorithmic means for determining the circumference of a circle?
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: Did Egyptian scribes have an algorithmic means for determining the circumference of a circle?
zbMATH Open document ID: 1245.01009
author: Leon Cooper
published in: Historia Mathematica
publication date: 2011-10-28T00:00:00Z
review text: On basis of problems in the Rhind and the Moscow Papyrus, particularly problem 10 in the Moscow Papyrus, the paper discusses two possible algorithms ancient Egyptian scribes had for determining the circumference of a circle. One, in essential the approximation of the circumference as \(22/7\) of the circle's diameter \(D\), is better known, and the second, suggested by the mentioned problem, reduces to \(256/81D\) by way calculating \((8/9)^2\) of \(4D\), the circumference of the square circumscribed to the circle (which is particularly interesting since it suggest a possible awareness that areas and circumferences of a square and its inscribed circle have the same ratio). Several related problems are discussed, as are architectural findings related to the need for a circumference-of-circle algorithm, and in the final part the author discusses possible reasons for having two different algorithms for the same purpose.
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A16
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 14-03
zbMATH DE Number: 5965290
zbMATH Keywords: Egyptian mathematical papyri
zbMATH Keywords: circumference of a circle
zbMATH Keywords: area of a circle
zbMATH Keywords: approximations of the number \(\pi\)
reviewed by: Franka Miriam Brückler
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: j.hm.2011.06.001
OpenAlex ID: W2055454393
cites work: Q4256269
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DOI: 10.1016/J.HM.2011.06.001
description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 5965290