Sijie Yang

If we acknowledge non-European sources of mathematics, students will have more opportunities to be exposed to various approaches of solving or proving a mathematical topic. The article "Was Pythagoras Chinese - Revisiting an Old Debate" shows us the Chinese-version proof of the a2+b2=c2 relationship. The proof that is exhibited by Zhoubi suanjing  is different from the rigorous proof in The Elements and can be easily understood by students. Inspired by the method, students can learn how prove a geometric theorem with the help of grid. The article also demonstrates Chinese approaches to calculate the accuracy of π, which can be utilized when we teach the topic of circle in mathematics class. By looking at various methods developed by various civilizations can also enrich students' problem-solving techniques and broaden their views in the journey of mathematical study. The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics  written by George Gheverghese Joseph has...

After doing research on the eye of Horus, it is tempting to think that ancient Egyptians integrated the knowledge of anatomy, mathematics and mythology into their artwork. In the mythology of ancient Egypt, the eye of Horus is the allusion to prosperity and protection [1]. In terms of anatomy, mid-sagittal section of the human brain discovered in the modern neuroanatomy is incredibly similar to the eye of Horus. Surprisingly, if we superimpose the eye of Horus over the image of human brain, the right triangular-shaped part of the eye of Horus can fit the shape of the olfactory trigone representing the sense of smell in our brain whilst the sense of hearing is represented by the left triangular-shaped part of the eye; the eyeball resembles the shape and location of massa intermedia representing vision, the eyebrow can overlap the area of the corpus callosum for wisdom and thoughts; the tail of the eye showing the taste pathway in the human brain; and the muscle position sense is illustr...

I am glad that I could collaborate with Aakriti and Nancy to exhibit our work in front of our classmates and demonstrate Ahmes' Loaves problem both in modern and ancient approaches. For me, as a teacher candidate in the subject of mathematics, the assignment is a process of experiencing the wisdom of ancient mathematicians who was able to solve "pure" mathematical problems without relying on algebra, thus broadening my horizon. By researching into the terminology of false position or  regula falsi , we started our journey of exploring how ancient Egyptians solve an arithmetic problem. Ahmes' Loaves Problem [1] It did not take too much time for us to solve the problem by using modern algebraic solution. We let d be the common difference of the arithmetical progression and expressed each term in terms of d . By establishing an equation based on the second condition given by the question, we quickly obtained the common difference which is equal to 55/6. However, it was...

Word Problem: A pile of grains and eighth part of it weigh 4 pounds. What is the weight of one pile of grains?