标签：mathematics

Getting It Done in Advance — The Common Logic of Napier’s Bones and Logarithms

AI & the Future of Technology2020.11.05
Getting It Done in Advance — The Common Logic of Napier’s Bones and Logarithms
This is still written for the Science and Technology Museum, and the piece “Xiang: Made in Advance — Napier’s Rods and the Common Logic of Logarithms.” John Napier (1550–1617) was born into a prominent Scottish noble family. He inherited the family fortune and managed his own castle and estate. He ran his lands with a researcher’s attitude, conducting experiments and analyses on matters such as fertilizer. He was also a devout Protestant, and in order to push back against Catholicism he took an active part in the religious controversies of the time and wrote influential theological works. He was also a wizard: he carefully fed a magical black rooster, and…
technology history of science history mathematics
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2020年11月5日
Why Has “From One to Infinity” Remained Popular for 70 Years?

History of Science & Scholarship2020.01.18
Why Has “From One to Infinity” Remained Popular for 70 Years?
Published in China Science Daily (2020-01-02, Section 7, Book Review) Its Decades-Long Bestseller Status Was No Accident From One to Infinity is the famous popular-science classic by the renowned physicist Gamow. Published in 1947 and revised and republished in 1961, it was translated into Chinese in 1978 by Mr. Bao Yongning, and has already been wildly popular at home and abroad for decades. Gamow died in 1968, more than 50 years ago now, so this classic work has become a “public-domain book.” As a result, many new translations suddenly appeared on the market. In addition to the repeatedly reprinted Bao Yongning translation from Science Press, I have already found at…
book reading science history of science book review
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2020年1月18日
Viète and the Transformation of Mathematics from Antiquity to Modernity

History of Science & Scholarship2018.11.09
Viète and the Transformation of Mathematics from Antiquity to Modernity
Published in the Chang’e supplement of Science and Technology Daily on November 9; I cobbled this piece together from a general invitation for submissions. Science and Technology Daily has launched a new column, “Stories from the History of Science,” which is rather good. If any students want to submit something, I can make the connection. Of course, the mentality of the traditional media is still rather old-fashioned—for example, they always hope to draw out some kind of scientific spirit… Viète (François Viète, 1540–1603) was a famous mathematician of the Renaissance. Contemporary middle school students are probably not unfamiliar with his name, because the “formula for finding the roots” of the…
science history of science history mathematics
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2018年11月9日
Lectures on the General History of Science 15: A Special Topic in the History of Mathematics (The Mathematical Revolution)

History of Science & Technology2015.06.12
Lectures on the General History of Science 15: A Special Topic in the History of Mathematics (The Mathematical Revolution)
Today is the penultimate class, so let me first talk a little about the course assignments. For this course, the requirements are a midterm reading report (optional) + a final paper. I have currently received four midterm reading reports, and I should already have replied to all of them by email. If you sent one but did not receive my reply, please send it again, or try another email address. Under normal circumstances, I should send a confirmation reply within two or three days, and I may also discuss some specific issues in the assignment with you by email. The point of assigning the reading report is to encourage everyone…
history of science course Scientific Revolution mathematics
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2015年6月12日
Lectures on the General History of Science 5: Roman and Arabic Science

History of Science & Technology2015.04.03
Lectures on the General History of Science 5: Roman and Arabic Science
Last class we talked about Hellenistic science, represented by Ptolemaic astronomy; Western classical science reached its peak in the Hellenistic period. The next peak would have to wait until the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries, from Copernicus to Newton. The period in between is relatively less exciting, but our general history course cannot very well skip over it, and this period is also one we are comparatively unfamiliar with. Before the Scientific Revolution, we must at least discuss three strands: first, the Arabs; second, China; third, Christian Europe. The Arabs took up the torch of Greek science and also made distinctive contributions, laying the groundwork for Europe’s…
science history of science course Aristotle
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2015年4月3日
Bitcoin and Mathematics: How Reliable Is Cryptography?

Web3 & Cypherpunks2014.07.27
Bitcoin and Mathematics: How Reliable Is Cryptography?
I haven’t written any Bitcoin-related articles for a long time. Before, I was busy with graduation, but recently, after graduating, I’ve actually become much less busy. On the one hand, I’ve been lazy; my efficiency has been low lately, and I’m in the process of getting myself back on track. I have a dozen accumulated articles that will have to be written out one by one. On the other hand, there really isn’t all that much more to say about Bitcoin. The knowledge that needed popularizing and the basic questions that needed answering have already been covered, so I haven’t had much desire to write anything new. As for the…
Web3 Bitcoin mathematics economy
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2014年7月27日
Miscellaneous Musings on Gambling

Web3 & Cypherpunks2013.05.24
Miscellaneous Musings on Gambling
After buying Bitcoin, I tried doing some short-term trading, but the results were not good. So recently I switched to small-scale gambling. On the one hand, it takes much less mental energy; on the other hand, the income is also more obvious. As of today, I have basically made back the losses from my failed investments in other coins (LTC, PPC, FRC, etc., which have all plunged recently), as well as the losses caused by short-term trading and other flipping about. The things I take part in are, of course, things I approve of, so let me talk a bit about my view of gambling. Of course, I do not…
China Web3 Bitcoin mathematics
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2013年5月24日
Bitcoin: An Endless Scam

Web3 & Cypherpunks2013.04.27
Bitcoin: An Endless Scam
Previously I wrote a long article on Bitcoin, but I still did not make clear the two most crucial questions: first, the question people on the internet love to argue about most—whether Bitcoin is really a scam; second, the truly important question: what exactly is the revolution brought about by Bitcoin? The previous article in fact also touched on these two questions, but because it was so long, they may have been obscured, so let me talk about them separately here. First, let us discuss this question, which in fact is not even worth refuting: is Bitcoin a scam? Many people like to compare Bitcoin with the notorious tulip bubble,…
history Web3 Bitcoin internet
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2013年4月27日
Olympiad Math: The Side Road to the Gaokao

Culture & Public Commentary2012.08.23
Olympiad Math: The Side Road to the Gaokao
After talking about the Olympics, I wanted to talk about Olympiad mathematics. Today I happened to see a report again, so I might as well write down a few thoughts. When I was talking about the Olympics, I was also reflecting on myself: is my enthusiastic support for the Olympics related to my own Olympiad-math experience? The answer is yes. When I have recalled my growing-up years, I have also mentioned many times how important Olympiad mathematics was to me. My experience with Olympiad math not only helped me get into school on recommendation all the way, but, more importantly, gave me the exhilaration of peering into truth and the…
China culture commentary education
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2012年8月23日
A Further Discussion of “Formal Indication”

Phenomenology & Heidegger2012.06.25
A Further Discussion of “Formal Indication”
Watching Jing Qi struggle on the issue of “this” and formal indication, I can’t help but keep pushing back, and for that reason I have also read, intermittently, some material on Heidegger’s early concept of “formal indication,” gradually coming to some understanding. Basically speaking, I have never placed much weight on the concept of “formal indication” (formale Anzeige, 形式指引), for several reasons: first, the phrase feels too Westernized, too specialized, and is easily read as jargon, leaving outsiders completely baffled. If there is a more plain and straightforward way of putting it, then there is no need to go through this phrase at all; second, this concept belongs to the…
philosophy Heidegger mathematics space
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2012年6月25日