Quote of the Day

[timelets]

...Greek mathematics introduced the quest for general propositions which could be proved in such a way as to be objectively persuasive. In other words, where the Egyptians had been able to calculate the volume of a certain cylinder and verify that the result was correct, or at least suitable for their, usually practical, purposes, the Greeks found the general formula for the volume of any cylinder and proved why that formula was right.

Serafina Cuomo. Ancient Mathematics.

Comments

[juan_gandhi]

As far as I know, the Egyptians knew more than one formula. The prescription to use this or that was "the boss said" - like in Ancient China logic. But also, when they measured your land, for tax purposes, they could use this or that formula, depending on the bribe size. Like, they could just multiply the diagonals.

[timelets]

It's the concept of proof that is attributed to the Greeks. Having an empirical formula is different from having a theoretically proven formula.