On the myriad mathematical traditions of ancient Greece
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: On the myriad mathematical traditions of ancient Greece
zbMATH Open document ID: 1012.01001
DOI: 10.1007/BF03025313
author: David E. Rowe
published in: The Mathematical Intelligencer
publication date: 2002-09-16T00:00:00Z
review text: The main point of this causerie is a rejection of the widespread identification of ancient Greek mathematics with the formal structure and methodological sophistication found in a handful of canonical works or, more accurately, in selected portions of them. It points to the plurality of mutually interacting traditions (the great theoretical tradition, that of practical mathematics and mechanical engineering, and the Pythagorean-Platonic tradition) and to the far from homogeneous nature of the first of these, the one most spoken of in mathematical texts and most books on the history of mathematics. This discussion is related to the impact of the reading of Greek mathematics (in its diversity) on later authors from Thābit ibn Qurrah to Newton and to the contemporary reception of Greek mathematics through the mirror presented by Hilbert's Grundlagen der Geometrie. Rowe concludes that mathematical knowledge, as a general rule, is related to various other types of knowledge, that its sources are varied, and that the form and content of its results are affected by the cultures within which it is produced. Those who have produced mathematics have done so in quite different societies, within which these producers have had quite varied functions .
reviewed by: Jens Høyrup
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A20
zbMATH DE Number: 1800911
zbMATH Keywords: Greek mathematics
Wikidata QID: Q115927994
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03025313
OpenAlex ID: W2118558232
description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1800911