Chinese Mathematicians - Han Mathematics

Han Mathematics

Further information: Science and technology of the Han Dynasty#Mathematics and astronomy

In the Han Dynasty, numbers were developed into a place value decimal system and used on a counting board with a set of counting rods called chousuan,consisted of only nine symbols, a blank space on the counting board stood for zero. The mathematicians Liu Xin (d. 23) and Zhang Heng (78–139) gave more accurate approximations for pi than Chinese of previous centuries had used. Zhang also applied mathematics in his work in astronomy.

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Famous quotes containing the words han and/or mathematics:

    Certes this dream, which ye han met tonight,
    Cometh of the great superfluity
    Of your redde colera,
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    Mathematics alone make us feel the limits of our intelligence. For we can always suppose in the case of an experiment that it is inexplicable because we don’t happen to have all the data. In mathematics we have all the data ... and yet we don’t understand. We always come back to the contemplation of our human wretchedness. What force is in relation to our will, the impenetrable opacity of mathematics is in relation to our intelligence.
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