"Despite this extensive utilization of Mathematics, it is not obvious to many that it is a tool used to teach students that Europeans are culturally superior to Africans. Most books dealing with the history of Mathematics devote only a few pages to ancient Egypt and to northern Africa during the Middle Ages. These books generally ignore the history of Mathematics in Africa south of the Sahara, giving the impression that either this history did not exist or, at least, is not knowable, traceable, or, even more absurd, that there was no mathematics at all in that part of Africa. To Eurocentric scholars, even the Africanity of Egyptian Mathematics is often denied. But contrary to the popular Eurocentric view, one can neither racially nor geographically separate Egyptian civilization from its Black African roots.
"That Africa was in the center of Mathematics for tens of thousands of years is indisputable . From civilizations across the continent emerged contributions which would enrich both ancient and modern understanding of Nature through Mathematics. From the measurement used in the African forest kingdoms to the Mathematics used in building the great stone complexes of Zimbabwe, the efficient irrigation technologies, central administration , the great accuracy of the dimensions of the pyramids. And the random number generation of the binary code that led to the invention of the computer , the achievements of Africans remain a source of fascination."
P.3-4, "General Introduction," AFRICAN MATHEMATICS: FROM BONES TO COMPUTERS by Abdul Karim Bangura (2012)
Saturday, April 18, 2015
AFRICAN MATHEMATICS
"Despite this extensive utilization of Mathematics, it is not obvious to many that it is a tool used to teach students that Europeans are culturally superior to Africans. Most books dealing with the history of Mathematics devote only a few pages to ancient Egypt and to northern Africa during the Middle Ages. These books generally ignore the history of Mathematics in Africa south of the Sahara, giving the impression that either this history did not exist or, at least, is not knowable, traceable, or, even more absurd, that there was no mathematics at all in that part of Africa. To Eurocentric scholars, even the Africanity of Egyptian Mathematics is often denied. But contrary to the popular Eurocentric view, one can neither racially nor geographically separate Egyptian civilization from its Black African roots.
"That Africa was in the center of Mathematics for tens of thousands of years is indisputable . From civilizations across the continent emerged contributions which would enrich both ancient and modern understanding of Nature through Mathematics. From the measurement used in the African forest kingdoms to the Mathematics used in building the great stone complexes of Zimbabwe, the efficient irrigation technologies, central administration , the great accuracy of the dimensions of the pyramids. And the random number generation of the binary code that led to the invention of the computer , the achievements of Africans remain a source of fascination."
P.3-4, "General Introduction," AFRICAN MATHEMATICS: FROM BONES TO COMPUTERS by Abdul Karim Bangura (2012)