Suan Shu Shu. A book on numbers and computations. Translated from the Chinese and with commentary by Joseph W. Dauben. (Q2425816): Difference between revisions

The present article contains a full English translation and an extensive critical commentary of the oldest extant, and previously unknown, Chinese mathematical manuscrit, the Suanshu shu composed of approximately 200 bamboo strips. Discovered in the tomb of a provincial Western Han dynasty provincial bureaucrat, in an archeological site near Zhang Jiashan, Hubei province, 1984, it has aroused considerable interest among Chinese historians of mathematics, as its extensive bibliography listed p. 172--177 witnesses. First an overall introduction explains the general significance of the text for the early history of Chinese mathematics and its overall content. A minute comparison with the celebrated Nine chapters follows with an emphasis of common points and differences between the two works. Other developpements concerning the previous editions of the text and other preliminary questions follow; in the sequel (p. 102--166) the 68 problems of the manuscripts are translated one by one with an emphasis on the difficulties encountered and their motives. Lastly, three Appendixes are devoted to the discussion of specific issues, like the way the expression Suanshu shu should be translated, a glossary of grains, plants and byproduts and equivalences for grains at different levels of refinment. By any standards, this article should be ranked among the first in the recent publications on the history of mathematics.