Positions and changes in mathematics on the basis of Chinese texts of the dynasties Han up to Song-Yuan. Some remarks (Q2707643)

The paper aims at accounting for the frequent occurrence of place-value notations in Chinese mathematical texts from the beginning of our era to the 14th century. To this end it embeds them within a broader context: the use which Chinese mathematicians made of positions (chin. wei) when computing on a surface with counting-rods. A reconstruction of their practice shows that positions are dynamic entities and in fact are the actual objects on which computations bear. As a result, place-value notations appear to involve a specific kind of such dynamic entities: those whose behaviour in a computation presents a uniformity. This fact relates their recurrence to the aims pursued in the research about algorithms, the main characteristic of Chinese mathematical texts.NEWLINENEWLINEFor the entire collection see [Zbl 0954.00007].