The Eurocentric Approach to Mathematics


In this week's reading on the non-European roots of mathematics, what fascinated me the most was how the certain parallels between Greek and Indian philosophies could be drawn based on historical evidence, and that Pythagoras even went as far as India to pursue knowledge. The author brought up examples of these "mathematical crusades" to point out the importance of diverse transmissions of mathematics across cultures. Although India served as a meeting point for civilizations to trade goods and share ideas, the magnitude of influence was greater than I had imagined. A further look into the early exchanges of mathematics allows us to trace many concepts that are still in use today back to India (such as trigonometric functions).

Secondly, a generalization made by the author that caught my eye was how an "Eurocentric bias" still exists across many disciplines, not just in mathematics. This is especially true in social sciences, where many philosophies and views were given an "European" construct, and the "European approach" is also prevalent when describing religions.

The third piece of information that surprised me was that the Mayans, like many civilizations in history, developed their own positional number system. Specifically, they used a system with base 20, as well as the number zero. From the many myths that have been told about the Mayans, including their estimation of planetary movements, the mathematical aspect was novel to me.

Comments

  1. HopeSeptember 14, 2019 at 5:52 PM

    Considering how sophisticated Indian, Mayan and all the other non-European mathematics were, the existence of Eurocentric bias in many different areas of studies really bothers me, too. I love how you concisely pin-pointed your discoveries after reading the article :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Susan GerofskySeptember 16, 2019 at 11:45 AM

    I second Hope's comments! The effects of colonialism are really pernicious -- Europe has its place in the history of mathematics, but not the central place. Fascinating to explore how every culture has developed mathematics, and some have led the world in certain fields!

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