Sourcebook in the Mathematics of Ancient Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean

Sourcebook in the Mathematics of Ancient Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean
Author: Victor J. Katz
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 720
Release: 2024-09-17
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0691202818

"In recent decades, there has been extensive research on Greek mathematics that has considerably enlarged the scope of this area of inquiry. Traditionally, "Greek mathematics" has referred to the axiomatic work of Archimedes, Apollonius, and others in the first three centuries BCE. However, there is a wide body of mathematical work that appeared in the eastern Mediterranean during the time it was under Greek influence (from approximately 400 BCE to 600 CE), which remains under-explored in the existing scholarship. This sourcebook provides an updated look at Greek mathematics, bringing together classic Greek texts with material from lesser-known authors, as well as newly uncovered texts that have been omitted in previous scholarship. The book adopts a broad scope in defining mathematical practice, and as such, includes fields such as music, optics, and architecture. It includes important sources written in languages other than Greek in the eastern Mediterranean area during the period from 400 BCE to 600 CE, which show some influence from Greek culture. It also includes passages that highlight the important role mathematics played in philosophy, pedagogy, and popular culture. The book is organized topically; chapters include arithmetic, plane geometry, astronomy, and philosophy, literature, and education. Within each chapter, the (translated) texts are organized chronologically. The book weaves together ancient commentary on classic Greek works with the works themselves to show how the understanding of mathematical ideas changed over the centuries"--

Archytas of Tarentum

Archytas of Tarentum
Author: Carl Huffman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 704
Release: 2005-05-23
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9781139444071

Archytas of Tarentum is one of the three most important philosophers in the Pythagorean tradition, a prominent mathematician, who gave the first solution to the famous problem of doubling the cube, an important music theorist, and the leader of a powerful Greek city-state. He is famous for sending a trireme to rescue Plato from the clutches of the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius II, in 361 BC. This 2005 study was the first extensive enquiry into Archytas' work in any language. It contains original texts, English translations and a commentary for all the fragments of his writings and for all testimonia concerning his life and work. In addition there are introductory essays on Archytas' life and writings, his philosophy, and the question of authenticity. Carl A. Huffman presents an interpretation of Archytas' significance both for the Pythagorean tradition and also for fourth-century Greek thought, including the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle.

The Complete Works of Aristoxenus. The Elements of Harmony and others. Illustrated

The Complete Works of Aristoxenus. The Elements of Harmony and others. Illustrated
Author: Aristoxenus
Publisher: Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2021-10-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN:

Aristoxenus of Tarentum was a Greek Peripatetic philosopher, and a pupil of Aristotle. He was the most famous music theorist in antiquity and came to be referred to simply as "the musician." Most of his writings, which dealt with philosophy, ethics and music, have been lost, but one musical treatise, Elements of Harmony survives incomplete, as well as some fragments concerning rhythm and meter. The Elements is the chief source of our knowledge of ancient Greek music. Αριστόξενος