Jia Xian
Jia Xian was an 11th century Chinese mathematician. He is known for the early use of Pascal's triangle .
The approximate dates of life of Jia Xian result from the fact that he was a student of the astronomer, mathematician and calendar maker Chu Yan , who can be traced back to the period from 1022 to 1054. According to the Song Dynasty history book , he was a eunuch in the Imperial Palace in Kaifeng . He wrote two mathematical treatises that have now been lost: Huangdi Jiuzhang Suanjing Xicao with solutions to the problems in Jiu Zhang Suanshu (Nine Chapters of Arithmetic), a famous collection of mathematical texts in China, and Suanfa Xuegu Ji (Collection of ancient mathematical rules), about his Content is not known.
From the first book something is known from the commentary ( Xiangjie Jiuzhang Suanfa , 1261) by Yang Hui on the nine chapters of arithmetic, such as the introduction of Pascal's triangle for the calculation of binomial coefficients and the use of Horner's scheme for the calculation of Roots of equations of the nth degree. The methods are similar to those of the Arab mathematician as-Samaw'al from the 12th century, but it is not clear whether he had his knowledge from China.
His Pascal's triangle was later used by Zhu Shijie in the 13th century.
literature
- Ang Tian Se: Jia Xian , in: Helaine Selin (Hrsg.): Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology and medicine in non-western countries, Kluwer 2008
Web links
- John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson : Jia Xian. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
Individual evidence
- ^ Karine Chemla , Similarities between Chinese and Arabic mathematical writings I: Root extraction, Arabic Sci. Philos., Vol. 4, 1994, pp. 207-266.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jia, Xian |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Chinese mathematician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1010 |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 1070 |