Cheng Dawei
Cheng Dawei , called Rusi, (* 1533 ; † 1606 ) was a Chinese mathematician. He is best known for his book General Source of Calculation Methods (Suanfa tong zong) from 1592.
Life
Most of what is known about him comes from a descendant who provided biographical information in the foreword in later editions of his book. After that he was not a scholar, but in the regional administration and engaged in mathematics as a hobby. He bought every book on mathematics that was available in local markets and thus gained a great deal of knowledge.
Suanfa tong zong
His book is not written in a scholarly style, but rather practically oriented. In it he presented calculation methods for the abacus . Its structure is based on the classic nine chapters of arithmetic ( Jiu Zhang Suanshu ) and contains 595 problems in 17 chapters. It covers all sorts of topics such as number mysticism, magic squares , generating the eight trigrams , arithmetic lessons, history of Chinese mathematics, mathematical conversations, volume calculations.
His book was widely distributed in China and was in use well into the 20th century. Chinese mathematicians Li Yan and Du Shiran wrote in 1964 that there were still some old people who would recite his verse formulas and talk about the problems they posed. Because of its encyclopedic approach, it was a source of knowledge of ancient Chinese mathematics. In 1716 a descendant wrote in the foreword of an edition of his book that everyone in China interested in mathematics had a copy.
Magic circles and squares from his Suanfa tong zong
literature
- Jean-Claude Martzloff: A history of chinese mathematics, Springer 1997
Web links
- John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson : Cheng Dawei. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cheng Dawei |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Chinese mathematician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1533 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1606 |