(The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi the World's most astonishing number, by Mario Livio (Broadway Books @ Random House, NY:2002))
In his informative book, theoretical astrophysicist Mario Livio, yet evinces that same old, enigmatic, Western European PREJUDICE against the "black" African/ Egyptian origin of mathematics, while claiming it for "whites" another invention of theirs.
Such is the bane of so many other Western Europeans, who deceitfully exalt Greece, as progenitor of these subjects, whether addressing same in writing or when speaking. In short, the mathematical and philosophical origins, and influences of Egypt are falsely and deliberately misattributed to Greece by latter day, "white" non-Greeks, as promotional propaganda!
Levi writes:
"There is no doubt that anyone in a western or mideastern civilization is a pupil of the ancient Greeks, when it comes to mathematics, science, philosophy, art and literature....
"However, even the accomplishments of the Greeks in many other fields pale in comparison with their awe-inspiring achievements in mathematics. In the span of only four hundred years, from Thales of Miletus (at ca. 600 B.C.) to "the Great Geometer" Appollonius of Perga (at ca. 200 B.C.), the Greeks completed all the essentials of a theory of geometry.
"The Greek excellence in mathematics was largely a direct consequence of their passion for knowledge for its own sake, rather than merely for practical purposes...
"The curriculum for the education of statesmen at the time of Plato included arithmetic, geometry, solid geometry, and music--all of which, the Pythagorean Archytas tells us, fell under the general definition of 'mathematics.'...
"Into this intellectual milieu enter Plato (428/427 B.C.--347/348 B.C.), one of the most influential minds of ancient Greece and western civilization in general...
"As Plato states in 'The Republic,' mathematics was an absolute must in the education of all state leaders and philosophers. accordingly, the inscription to the entrance to his school (the Academy) read: 'Let no one destitute of geometry enter my doors.' ... Plato's admiration for mathematics also shows when he speaks with some envy on the attitude towards mathematics in Egypt, where 'arithmetical games have been invented for the use of mere children, which they learn as pleasure and amusement.'"
Pp. 62-64
Unless one reads Plato, himself, one would come away, after reading Mario Levi's book, with the mistaken impression that the Greeks had invented mathematics "for its own sake," and for no "practical purpose!"
But, if that were so, why would Plato have reason to "envy the attitude toward mathematics in Egypt,"
whose children learn mathematical games the Egyptians have invented for their own children's "amusement and pleasure?" Such mathematical inventiveness serves a very practical purpose: math education!
Plato writes in his essay, "The Nature and Purpose of Education," in THE LAWS (Penguin Classics: 1975): "I insist that a man who intends to be good at a particular occupation must practice it from childhood... We should try to use the children's games to channel their pleasures and desires toward the activities in which they will have to engage when they are adult. To sum up, we say the correct way to bring up and educate a child is to use his playtime to imbue his soul with the greatest possible liking for the occupation in which he will have to be absolutely perfect when he grows up." Pp. 29-30
In THE LAWS, "Mathematics," Plato also states:
"So we should insist that gentlemen should study these subjects to at least the same level as very many children in Egypt, who acquire such knowledge at the same time they learn to read and write. First, lessons in calculation have been devised for tiny tots to learn while they are enjoying themselves at play ... As I indicated, they make use of elementary arithmetic as an integral part of their pupils' play, so that they get a useful introduction to the art of marshaling, leading, and deploying an army, or running a household; and in general they make them more alert and resourceful persons. Next, the teacher puts the children on to measuring lengths, surfaces, and solids--a study which rescues them from the deep-rooted ignorance, at once comic and shocking, that all men display in this field.
Cleinias: What sort of ignorance do you mean, in particular?
Athenian: My dear Cleinias, even I took a very long time to discover mankind's plight in this business; but when I did, I was amazed, and could scarcely believe that human beings could suffer from such swinish stupidity. I blushed not only for myself, but for all Greeks in general." P.267
By the phrase "swinish stupidity," Plato " blushed not only for [himself] but for all Greeks in general" when compared in mathematical knowledge to Egyptian children.
This hardly endorses the Greeks as inventors of mathematics, over 2,000 years after the building of the pyramids and over 4,000 years after the Egyptian invention of the calendar! Plato speaks truth.
Those who follow him hide or elide the truth for their own perplexing ultimately "white power" purposes. They rationalize math for math's sake, with no practical application, to attempt to discount Africa's eons of megaliths, and Greece's lack of same, comparably.
They wickedly dissemble their "white supremacist" paradigm under the vestments of Plato, who refers to Greek ignorance as "swinish," well knowing that very few people in this era would bother to read Plato or the ancients in quest of the actual truth!
Mario Livio do you hear me?
Saturday, March 14, 2015
MATHEMATICS' ORIGIN IS AFRICAN
MATHEMATICS' ORIGIN IS AFRICAN
(The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi the World's most astonishing number, by Mario Livio (Broadway Books @ Random House, NY:2002))
In his informative book, theoretical astrophysicist Mario Livio, yet evinces that same old, enigmatic, Western European PREJUDICE against the "black" African/ Egyptian origin of mathematics, while claiming it for "whites" another invention of theirs.
Such is the bane of so many other Western Europeans, who deceitfully exalt Greece, as progenitor of these subjects, whether addressing same in writing or when speaking. In short, the mathematical and philosophical origins, and influences of Egypt are falsely and deliberately misattributed to Greece by latter day, "white" non-Greeks, as promotional propaganda!
Levi writes:
"There is no doubt that anyone in a western or mideastern civilization is a pupil of the ancient Greeks, when it comes to mathematics, science, philosophy, art and literature....
"However, even the accomplishments of the Greeks in many other fields pale in comparison with their awe-inspiring achievements in mathematics. In the span of only four hundred years, from Thales of Miletus (at ca. 600 B.C.) to "the Great Geometer" Appollonius of Perga (at ca. 200 B.C.), the Greeks completed all the essentials of a theory of geometry.
"The Greek excellence in mathematics was largely a direct consequence of their passion for knowledge for its own sake, rather than merely for practical purposes...
"The curriculum for the education of statesmen at the time of Plato included arithmetic, geometry, solid geometry, and music--all of which, the Pythagorean Archytas tells us, fell under the general definition of 'mathematics.'...
"Into this intellectual milieu enter Plato (428/427 B.C.--347/348 B.C.), one of the most influential minds of ancient Greece and western civilization in general...
"As Plato states in 'The Republic,' mathematics was an absolute must in the education of all state leaders and philosophers. accordingly, the inscription to the entrance to his school (the Academy) read: 'Let no one destitute of geometry enter my doors.' ... Plato's admiration for mathematics also shows when he speaks with some envy on the attitude towards mathematics in Egypt, where 'arithmetical games have been invented for the use of mere children, which they learn as pleasure and amusement.'"
Pp. 62-64
Unless one reads Plato, himself, one would come away, after reading Mario Levi's book, with the mistaken impression that the Greeks had invented mathematics "for its own sake," and for no "practical purpose!"
But, if that were so, why would Plato have reason to "envy the attitude toward mathematics in Egypt,"
whose children learn mathematical games the Egyptians have invented for their own children's "amusement and pleasure?" Such mathematical inventiveness serves a very practical purpose: math education!
Plato writes in his essay, "The Nature and Purpose of Education," in THE LAWS (Penguin Classics: 1975): "I insist that a man who intends to be good at a particular occupation must practice it from childhood... We should try to use the children's games to channel their pleasures and desires toward the activities in which they will have to engage when they are adult. To sum up, we say the correct way to bring up and educate a child is to use his playtime to imbue his soul with the greatest possible liking for the occupation in which he will have to be absolutely perfect when he grows up." Pp. 29-30
In THE LAWS, "Mathematics," Plato also states:
"So we should insist that gentlemen should study these subjects to at least the same level as very many children in Egypt, who acquire such knowledge at the same time they learn to read and write. First, lessons in calculation have been devised for tiny tots to learn while they are enjoying themselves at play ... As I indicated, they make use of elementary arithmetic as an integral part of their pupils' play, so that they get a useful introduction to the art of marshaling, leading, and deploying an army, or running a household; and in general they make them more alert and resourceful persons. Next, the teacher puts the children on to measuring lengths, surfaces, and solids--a study which rescues them from the deep-rooted ignorance, at once comic and shocking, that all men display in this field.
Cleinias: What sort of ignorance do you mean, in particular?
Athenian: My dear Cleinias, even I took a very long time to discover mankind's plight in this business; but when I did, I was amazed, and could scarcely believe that human beings could suffer from such swinish stupidity. I blushed not only for myself, but for all Greeks in general." P.267
By the phrase "swinish stupidity," Plato " blushed not only for [himself] but for all Greeks in general" when compared in mathematical knowledge to Egyptian children.
This hardly endorses the Greeks as inventors of mathematics, over 2,000 years after the building of the pyramids and over 4,000 years after the Egyptian invention of the calendar! Plato speaks truth.
Those who follow him hide or elide the truth for their own perplexing ultimately "white power" purposes. They rationalize math for math's sake, with no practical application, to attempt to discount Africa's eons of megaliths, and Greece's lack of same, comparably.
They wickedly dissemble their "white supremacist" paradigm under the vestments of Plato, who refers to Greek ignorance as "swinish," well knowing that very few people in this era would bother to read Plato or the ancients in quest of the actual truth!
Mario Livio do you hear me?
(The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi the World's most astonishing number, by Mario Livio (Broadway Books @ Random House, NY:2002))
In his informative book, theoretical astrophysicist Mario Livio, yet evinces that same old, enigmatic, Western European PREJUDICE against the "black" African/ Egyptian origin of mathematics, while claiming it for "whites" another invention of theirs.
Such is the bane of so many other Western Europeans, who deceitfully exalt Greece, as progenitor of these subjects, whether addressing same in writing or when speaking. In short, the mathematical and philosophical origins, and influences of Egypt are falsely and deliberately misattributed to Greece by latter day, "white" non-Greeks, as promotional propaganda!
Levi writes:
"There is no doubt that anyone in a western or mideastern civilization is a pupil of the ancient Greeks, when it comes to mathematics, science, philosophy, art and literature....
"However, even the accomplishments of the Greeks in many other fields pale in comparison with their awe-inspiring achievements in mathematics. In the span of only four hundred years, from Thales of Miletus (at ca. 600 B.C.) to "the Great Geometer" Appollonius of Perga (at ca. 200 B.C.), the Greeks completed all the essentials of a theory of geometry.
"The Greek excellence in mathematics was largely a direct consequence of their passion for knowledge for its own sake, rather than merely for practical purposes...
"The curriculum for the education of statesmen at the time of Plato included arithmetic, geometry, solid geometry, and music--all of which, the Pythagorean Archytas tells us, fell under the general definition of 'mathematics.'...
"Into this intellectual milieu enter Plato (428/427 B.C.--347/348 B.C.), one of the most influential minds of ancient Greece and western civilization in general...
"As Plato states in 'The Republic,' mathematics was an absolute must in the education of all state leaders and philosophers. accordingly, the inscription to the entrance to his school (the Academy) read: 'Let no one destitute of geometry enter my doors.' ... Plato's admiration for mathematics also shows when he speaks with some envy on the attitude towards mathematics in Egypt, where 'arithmetical games have been invented for the use of mere children, which they learn as pleasure and amusement.'"
Pp. 62-64
Unless one reads Plato, himself, one would come away, after reading Mario Levi's book, with the mistaken impression that the Greeks had invented mathematics "for its own sake," and for no "practical purpose!"
But, if that were so, why would Plato have reason to "envy the attitude toward mathematics in Egypt,"
whose children learn mathematical games the Egyptians have invented for their own children's "amusement and pleasure?" Such mathematical inventiveness serves a very practical purpose: math education!
Plato writes in his essay, "The Nature and Purpose of Education," in THE LAWS (Penguin Classics: 1975): "I insist that a man who intends to be good at a particular occupation must practice it from childhood... We should try to use the children's games to channel their pleasures and desires toward the activities in which they will have to engage when they are adult. To sum up, we say the correct way to bring up and educate a child is to use his playtime to imbue his soul with the greatest possible liking for the occupation in which he will have to be absolutely perfect when he grows up." Pp. 29-30
In THE LAWS, "Mathematics," Plato also states:
"So we should insist that gentlemen should study these subjects to at least the same level as very many children in Egypt, who acquire such knowledge at the same time they learn to read and write. First, lessons in calculation have been devised for tiny tots to learn while they are enjoying themselves at play ... As I indicated, they make use of elementary arithmetic as an integral part of their pupils' play, so that they get a useful introduction to the art of marshaling, leading, and deploying an army, or running a household; and in general they make them more alert and resourceful persons. Next, the teacher puts the children on to measuring lengths, surfaces, and solids--a study which rescues them from the deep-rooted ignorance, at once comic and shocking, that all men display in this field.
Cleinias: What sort of ignorance do you mean, in particular?
Athenian: My dear Cleinias, even I took a very long time to discover mankind's plight in this business; but when I did, I was amazed, and could scarcely believe that human beings could suffer from such swinish stupidity. I blushed not only for myself, but for all Greeks in general." P.267
By the phrase "swinish stupidity," Plato " blushed not only for [himself] but for all Greeks in general" when compared in mathematical knowledge to Egyptian children.
This hardly endorses the Greeks as inventors of mathematics, over 2,000 years after the building of the pyramids and over 4,000 years after the Egyptian invention of the calendar! Plato speaks truth.
Those who follow him hide or elide the truth for their own perplexing ultimately "white power" purposes. They rationalize math for math's sake, with no practical application, to attempt to discount Africa's eons of megaliths, and Greece's lack of same, comparably.
They wickedly dissemble their "white supremacist" paradigm under the vestments of Plato, who refers to Greek ignorance as "swinish," well knowing that very few people in this era would bother to read Plato or the ancients in quest of the actual truth!
Mario Livio do you hear me?