Marc Moyon

Dividing a Triangle in the Middle Ages: An Example from Latin Works on Practical Geometry

This chapter is concerned with an important question in geometry: the division (or dissection) of 2D figures. This question has been represented and developed in numerous mathematical traditions since Mesopotamian times. In particular, the great geometers of ancient Greece such as Euclid or Hero of Alexandria each tackled it in their own way. Many other developments were achieved in Islamic countries both in the East and West. Based on extracts from medieval Latin literature of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries with Plato of Tivoli, Fibonacci and Jordanus de Nemore, this chapter deals with just one basic geometric problem: ‘dividing a triangle into two equal parts’, from which the geometric constraints evolve. A broad historic introduction allows these problems to be placed in context; it is a great opportunity to introduce an historic perspective into mathematics teaching. When an author is quoted for the first time, their name is followed, in brackets, by the date of death when known or the proven period when they were active. When too little viable information is known, only the century will be given.

L’ENSEIGNEMENT DES MATHEMATIQUES ELEMENTAIRES « A L’ENSEIGNE DU PERE CASTOR »

Apresentamos aqui uma investigacao a respeito da Constituicao dos Saberes Elementares Matematicos - o ensino de Aritmetica e de Geometria - e a participacao da mulher no Curso Primario na Bahia Imperio-Republica (1827-1939). Para tanto, nos valemos da analise de documentos, acervos historicos e culturais, registros publicos e particulares correlacionados as Constituicoes Brasileira e Baiana, a Educacao de/para mulheres, ao magisterio feminino, a insercao/participacao da mulher no âmbito social, que sao constructos para uma Historia da Educacao, relacoes de genero e o ensino de Matematica, focos deste trabalho.

Understanding a Mediæval Algorithm : a Few Examples in Arab and Latin Geometrical Traditions of Measurement

Taking into account written texts from Arab and Latin traditions of the geometry of measurement, our main purpose is to describe several elements of algorithms in order to analyze how part of heir explicitness and tacitness could help the historian of mathematics to understand computations. After the introduction where the context is briefly exposed, we will focus on two different classical examples of the geometry of measurement. The first one is a series of problems on rectangles where additive relations on area, length and width are given, and it is necessary to find both length and width. The second problem is a sharing of land between heirs.