Who knows? (The Story of Math 1)

The whole video presentation was divided into three parts according to their respective ancient civilizations. There were the Egyptians, the Babylonians, and the Greeks. They have different approaches to discovery of the mathematical measurements. What was common among the three civilizations was that they were all very resourceful and creative in thinking of ways to measure areas of land, for example, in a very basic way. Without them knowing, though, these very basic ways of measurement are steps towards modern and more complicated ways of measuring in our daily chores today. It was quite remarkable that people during the ancient times were able to think of such genius ways that lead to modern mathematics when at the first place they weren’t exposed to any formal education.

            I was impressed how the Egyptians were able to have “accurate” measurements only using their body parts. I really think it was very genius of them to improvise some measuring device. Perhaps this was where the measurement terms were derived from. For example, foot or feet might have been equivalent to a person’s feet which they used to measure something. I also remembered that even Filipinos use one stretch of their arms to indicate a meter. It was also the ancient Filipinos who use their middle finger to measure water when they cook rice. Perhaps our ancestors learned or inherited this practice from ancient Egyptians. We don’t know but what is obvious is that ancient Filipino also have their old ways of measuring using their body parts, just how the Egyptians did it.

            Overall, I find ancient means of measurements not just impressive but was unknown doors to modern mathematics or even other forms of sciences. With the video that was presented in class, it might be safe to assume that the simple things we do and practice today may just be the perfect trigger to open new doors to more modern discoveries. Who knows? The world of science and mathematics is broad and is developing over time. The changes are fast and before we know it, the random things we do today may actually be something clever in the future.