Talk:Kahun Papyrus
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[edit] The mathematics in KP
As a layperson, I just could not follow this discussion, starting with the first sentence "However, one fragment begins with a 2/n table." (I don't know what a 2/n table is). I doubt most of this material belongs in an encyclopedia article, though i respect the efforts of User:Milogardner in assembling information. Also, the piece concludes sounding like original research, which is ruled out of WP (see WP:OR). I do not have any easy suggestions for Milogardner except to recommend a re-write as though explaining the topic from scratch to a high school history or mathematics class. That might also include a clear explanation of the notability of the KP in regard to the mathematics in question. Sorry - if it is an consolation i did think this is probably quite an interesting piece of history being revealed here... hamiltonstone 04:50, 30 October 2007 (UTC)
The 2/nth table was the beginning of Ahmes' Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, as well as the beginning of the Kahaun P, used in all Middle Kingdom Egyptian fraction mathematics. Improvements in Egyptian fraction arithmetic were reported for over 3,400 years. The 2/n table showed the ability of an ancient scribe to write condensed Egyptian fraction rational numbers in optimal ways. Modern readers often think in base 10 decimals, or non-scribal ways, and therefore modern readers need to take a quick course to escape from their self-imposed numerical prisons, be they base 10 decimal, or another. Egyptian mathematics, began with exact arithmetic methods that wrote rational numbers un unit fraction series. Scribal rational numbers, p/q, where p and q were prime or composite, can only be read and understood by following the numerical steps recorded by the scribe. Modern writers, mostly well meaning, have often tried to re-write scribal shorthand methods, beginning with modern simplified 2/n table steps, citing modern additive arithmetic as the core of scribal views. Egyptian scribes, especially the Kahun scribe, Ahmes, and all other scribes, including Greeks, and medievals as later as Fibonacci used exact Egyptian fraction methods, first in their 2/n tables, to exactly convert any vulgar fraction (an improper fraction in modern arithmetic terminology). Again, to understand the importance of scribal 2/n tables to the minds and abstract methods of the ancient scribes, the scribal steps must be repeated, a task that is difficult since the script logically omitted many steps. That is, scribal shorthand can and should not be avoided by re-writing scribal thought ( such ass 1/3, 2/3, 2/7, 2/11, 2/12 and so forth) into base 10 decimals, or any other rounded off system. Scribes always found a short 5-term of shorter series of unit fractions that exactly re-wrote their target vulgar fraction. For example 2/7 was written as 1/4 + 1/28 by raising 2/7 to a multiple of itself, in this case 4/4 by writing 2/7 x 4/4 = 8/28 (the missing scribal intermediate step) such that 2/7 = (7 + 1)/28 = 1/4 + 1/28. Best Regards ~~ Milo Gardner, Nov. 25, 2007. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Milogardner (talk •
