String, Straight-edge & Shadow the Story of Geometry |  | Publisher: Whole Spirit Press
Category: Book
Buy New: $50.00
New (1) Used (1) from $44.95
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 960427
Format: Unabridged
Language: English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Pages: 158
ISBN: 1892857073
EAN: 9781892857071
Publication Date: 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New book, unread book, can be shipped next day! We value your feedback!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Back in print after 34 years, this book recreates the atmosphere of ancient times. Using only three simple tools--the string, the straightedge and the shadow--men discovered the basic principles and constructions of elementary geometry more than 2,000 years ago. This engrossing book reveals how these discoveies were made and shows how theywere related to the early civilizatins of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece. You will be fascinated with the graphic illustrations and written depiction of how the knowledge and wisdome of so many cultures helped shape our civilization today.
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| Customer Reviews:
Discover Geometry as the ancients did & never forget it! December 13, 2007
A. S. Hale (USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is a 'living book', written by Julia Diggins, a math teacher. She begins with a description of nature and the patterns found therein, working through the same observations that early man must have made. As we visit Egypt and other ancient near eastern cultures, Diggins shows how bits of early geometry might have been discovered, and how it was used in daily life. Builders, village leaders and ordinary people solved real, practical problems, using only shadows, ropes(string), and straight edges.
In successive chapters, Diggins takes us to ancient Greece and attempts to reconstruct the way ancient thinkers could have worked out many concepts crucial to geometry. She covers Thales, Pythagoras (and his followers) and Eudoxus of Cnidus in particular detail.
While Diggins gives informative, story-like backgrounds, she concentrates on HOW they could have made their findings--in a manner that students can understand and replicate. These expainations make this book different from biographies of mathemeticians, such as in books like "Mathematicians are People Too".
This is a book of discoveries, not a text book with problems. In each of the book's 17 chapters, Diggins takes us thru the observations and "tests" that people would make along the path to discovering both practical and theoretical geometry. These observations and tests can be duplicated by the reader (depending on age, you may need to assist). Some are explicitly written with that intent (i.e. she suggests you try it) while others are more subtle. For instance, she describes in detail how a rope was laid out and knotted to assist in the equitable division of land--she doesn't tell you to try it, but the detail and illustrations are clear enough to allow you do so, albeit on a smaller scale.
The illustrations are 2 color (black and white with red), and are especially useful in the later chapters.
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