Logic and the scientific method
An eclipse of the moon. You can see the curved shadow of the Earth. Logic tells you the earth is round. Making predictions Once people have seen that something happens [...]
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09, 2017
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08, 2017
Medieval math in Europe
Math was a very exciting subject to be working on during the Middle Ages in Europe. Little by little, math experts in Europe were learning from Islamic math experts about what we call Arabic numbers (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) (though the [...]
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07, 2017
Geometry made easy!
Geometry: This is an equilateral trangle. What is geometry? The simplest geometric idea is the point, and then the line, the plane, and the solid. Shapes like circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles are flat, and we can think of [...]
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07, 2017
Proof for the area of a circle
Proof for the area of a circle: Divide a circle up into sections like an orange Euclid's proof We know it's true that A=πr-squared is the area of a circle, but how can we prove [...]
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07, 2017
Medieval Islamic science
Medieval Islamic science: Al Tusi's diagram of linear motion from circular motion Indian and African science In the Early Middle Ages, before the formation of the Islamic Empire, Buddhists ran the world's biggest [...]
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07, 2017
Ibn al-Haytham – Medieval Islamic science
Diagram of an eye, by Ibn al-Haytham (ca. 1000 AD) Who was ibn al-Haytham? Ibn al-Haytham was born about 965 AD in Basra, near the Persian Gulf (modern Iraq), and when he grew [...]
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07, 2017
Jainism – religion in medieval India
Jainism: A Jain statue, possibly Mahavira, from about 1200 AD When did Jains get started? Nobody knows when people first began to follow Jain ideas. Some Jain traditions take their [...]
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07, 2017
Greek mathematics – Geometry and Proofs
Greek mathematics: An Egyptian papyrus from about 100 AD which is a piece of one of Euclid's books Greek math: geometry not algebra Because people in ancient Greece had only very clumsy [...]
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07, 2017
Who was Euclid? History of Geometry
An Egyptian papyrus from about 100 AD which is a piece of one of Euclid's books Euclid's life and background Nobody knows much about Euclid's life anymore - it is [...]
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07, 2017
Who was Archimedes? Eureka!
Archimedes was from Syracuse, Sicily. Here you see it with Mount Etna in the background When did Archimedes live? Archimedes was born about 287 BC, so he was a little younger [...]
