26/08/2023
Maja matematika. Szombati olvasgatásra éppen alkalmas ismeretterjesztő anyag.
The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization that can be traced back to around 1800 BC (probably earlier, although it would be several centuries before they built large cities) and it lasted until the end of the 17th century AD.¹ The Classic Period—and the peak—of the Maya was between c. AD 250 and c. 900.
The Maya civilization was never a single united kingdom, rather many kingdoms that shared some, but not all, of the same traditions. They built cities across present-day Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Their cities had stepped pyramid temples with spectacular reliefs and inscriptions. Their numeral system was the most sophisticated mathematics system ever developed in the Americas. The system consisted of just three symbols: a shell for zero, a dot for one, and a bar for five. The next four paragraphs are from an article published by the Canadian Museum of History. The numeral system is explained here:
"The Maya used the vigesimal system for their calculations - a system based on 20 rather than 10. This means that instead of the 1, 10, 100, 1,000 and 10,000 of our mathematical system, the Maya used 1, 20, 400, 8,000 and 160,000.
Maya numbers, including calendar dates, were written from bottom to top, rather than horizontally. As an example of how they worked, three was represented by three dots in a horizontal row; 12 was two bars with two dots on top; and 19 was three bars with four dots on top. Numbers larger than 19 were represented by the same kind of sequence, but a dot was placed above the number for each group of 20. Thirty-two, for example, consisted of the symbols for 12, with a dot on top of the whole thing representing an additional group of 20. The system could thus be extended infinitely.
The Maya set of mathematical symbols allowed even uneducated people to add and subtract for the purposes of trade and commerce. To add two numbers together, for example, the symbols for each number would be set side by side, then collapsed together to make a new single number. Thus, two bars and a single dot representing 11 could be added to one bar for five, to make three bars and one dot, or 16.
The Maya considered some numbers more sacred than others. One of these special numbers was 20, as it represented the number of fingers and toes a human being could count on. Another special number was five, as this represented the number of digits on a hand or foot. Thirteen was sacred as the number of original Maya gods. Another sacred number was 52, representing the number of years in a "bundle", a unit similar in concept to our century. Another number, 400, had sacred meaning as the number of Maya gods of the night."
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📷Original: Neuromancer2K4 Vector: Bryan Derksen
Notes and further information:
1. The dates are up for debate and are approximate to say the least. Although the civilization no longer exists, the descendants number in the millions and live in the same areas speaking at least 30 different Mayan languages.
