Before the advent of mathematics in Babylon and Egypt around 3,000 BC, mankind had made little progress in mathematics. Since primitive people began to settle in an area as early as 10,000 BC, establish homes, and live by agriculture and animal husbandry, it can be seen how time-consuming the first few steps of mathematics were. What's more, many ancient civilized societies had no mathematics at all, which shows how rare civilizations that can cultivate this science are.
Around 3000 BC, the Babylonians and Egyptians developed mathematics almost simultaneously and independently, involving positive integers, fractions, roots of quadratic equations, areas of simple geometric figures and right triangle relationships, etc. Of the two ancient civilizations, the Babylonians were the first to contribute to the mainstream of mathematics. For example, the Babylonians could find the roots of linear equations, partial quadratic and cubic equations, and even solve individual problems such as five equations with five unknown quantities. In terms of geometry, they could calculate the areas of some simple plane figures and simple Solid volume, but geometry was not important in the minds of the Babylonians. It was not an independent subject for them. They often turned geometric problems into algebraic problems to solve. The Babylonians lived in Mesopotamia, which is now part of Iraq. While the ruling nations of Mesopotamia changed over time and accepted new cultural influences, Egyptian civilization developed independently without the influence of external forces. Where the Egyptian civilization originated is still unknown, but it It must have existed before 4000 BC.
Egyptian culture reached its highest point around 2500 BC, when rulers built the pyramids that survive today. According to the research of Greek historians, Egypt came into being because the boundaries of farmers' land needed to be re-determined after the Nile River rose every year. The Egyptians could apply correct formulas to calculate the area of a triangle, rectangle, trapezoid, the volume of a cube, prism, cylinder, pyramid, etc. The Egyptians used mathematics to manage the affairs of the country, determine the payment of laborers, and collect land taxes estimated according to the land area. Like the Babylonians, one of the main uses of Egyptian mathematics was astronomy and astrology. They combined astronomical knowledge with geometric knowledge to build temples so that the sunlight on certain days of the year could shine into the temple in a specific way. , they struggled to get the base of the pyramid to have the correct shape. The ratio of base to height dimensions is significant, but we should not overemphasize the complexity of the project or the profundity of the idea. Generally speaking, Egyptian mathematics was simple and superficial.
As far as mathematics is concerned, China may be one of the birthplaces of mathematical science in the world. In ancient China, the production of algebra and geometry knowledge can be traced back to 3000 BC, among which the Pythagorean theorem appeared earlier than in the West. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty (around 180 BC) , the mathematical monograph "Nine Chapters on Arithmetic" appeared, which marked the formation of China's elementary mathematics theoretical system. It included solutions to arithmetic, algebra and geometry problems such as equations, Pythagorean, and Fangtian. From the early Eastern Han Dynasty to the end of the Five Dynasties, it was a period of stable development of China's elementary mathematics theoretical system, with representative figures such as Zhao Shuang, Liu Hui and Zu Chongzhi. By the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the development of elementary mathematics in China reached its peak. However, due to various reasons, ancient Chinese mathematics research was always involved in very practical problems, without knowledge of abstraction or system. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, China's science and technology gradually fell behind.
