In the third part i will present, as an illustration, geometrical ideas involved. Paulus gerdes, a mathematician from mozambique, uses traditional lusona patterns from angola to practice inductive thinking. New portuguese language edition original edition maputo, 1991. In the framework of this practice, the lusona singular of. Research centre for mathematics, culture and education, c. Professor of mathematics vicepresident for southern africa, african academy of sciences chairman, african mathematical union commission on the history of mathematics in africa president, international studygroup on ethnomathematics fellow, international academy for the. Sketch the fourth sona design, assuming the pattern continues. Article information, pdf download for mathematical thinking and geometric.
Copyright 2012 by paulus gerdes 2 paulus gerdes drawings from angola. On mathematical ideas in cultural traditions of central. On mathematics in the history of subsaharan africa 1 core. I adjunct professor a at the center for open and distance education ceadat the federal university of ouro preto ufop. This bibliography carried forward the traditions of cheikh anta diop, who did so much to unearth and highlight the contributions of african mathematics to research and learning. He is a contemporary of fencingmaster paulus kal whose manuscript may contain hints of. Wallpaper designs of mirror curves inspired by african sona darrah chavey. For an annotated bibliography of mathematics in african history and cultures, see. Then, it shows how the gerdp will benefit east africa by filling the wide gap in. Pdf drawnigs from angola living mathematics iago reis. This article quantifies major benefits the grand ethiopian renaissance dam project for sudan and egypt. In fact, gerdes has shown see, for example, gerdes, 1999 that the number of closed lines necessary to draw a plaitedmat lusona in an m,n grid is the greatest common divisor of m and n. The last three questions may prove to be the most straightforward.
Women, art and geometry in southern africa request pdf. Then follows a short overview of fields of mathematical activity which have been recently studied. When around 1800 the prussian government under french occupation decided to fix the surnames, the contemporary son of gerhard had to keep his name. Paulus gerdes looking back historically we may see that ethnomathemat ics has been defined at different levels. Examples of a 2colour lundadesign and of a 3colour design. She discussed written, spoken, and gesture counting, number. Problemas e solucoes ebook a cores by paulus gerdes ebook online at lulu.
The evolution of the liberian state a study in neopatrimonial state formation and political change felix gerdes arbeitspapier nr. Introducing paulus gerdes ethnomathematics books red. In a broad sense the world is deprived of a great educator, of an interesting and rigorous thinker and researcher, and a great friend for those who had the opportunity to meet him and be with him. Sona patterns revisiting the contributions of the people. Paulus gerdess 31 research works with 364 citations and 1,015 reads, including. The writing systems of africa refer to the current and historical practice of writing systems on the african continent, both indigenous and those introduced today, the latin script is commonly encountered across africa, especially subsaharan africa. Mathematics teacher education classes often are composed of students with varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and mathe matics teachers may be employed in regions from. The mozambican ethnomathematician paulus gerdes has. Paulus gerdes 2 greatly contributed to the reconstruction of the mathematical concepts involved in these sona, which can be classified in different classes, according to the rules given to draw them. On culture and mathematics teacher education, journal of. Box 915, maputo, mozambique for dirk struik on his 100th birthday2 this article presents an overview of research findings and of sources on or related to mathematics in the history of africa south of the sahara.
Problems and solutions in color by paulus gerdes paperback online at lulu. On mathematical elements in the tchokwe sona tradition for the. Hydrocarbon molecules in which all the bonds between the carbon atoms are single bonds except one double bond are. The nal question is easily solved, since positioning the dots in a straight line gives a drawing enclosing all points. On mathematical elements in the tchokwe sona tradition. Later i saw that several tamil kolam drawings from india and celtic knots may also be described as mirrorcurves. These ideographs function as mnemonic devices to record proverbs, fables, games, riddles and animals, and to transmit knowledge. The book lunda geometry explains how the mathematical concepts of mirror curves and lundadesigns were discovered in the context of the authors research of sona, illustrations traditionally made in the sand by cokwe storytellers from eastern angola a region called lunda and neighboring regions of congo and zambia. Paulus gerdes from the earliest times onwards humans in africa have created and developed mathematical ideas. Lusona drawing is an ideographic tradition known across eastern angola, northwestern zambia and adjacent areas of the democratic republic of the congo, and is mainly practiced by the chokwe and luchazi people.
Briefer version in english of a book originally written in 1985 in german and portuguese. Paulus gerdess research works universidade pedagogica. Mathematical thinking and geometric exploration in africa and. The traditional lusona representing the chased chicken s path left and the chased chicken s path as a mirrorcurve right. English awakening of geometrical thought in early culture by paulus gerdes. In this paper i will first present some evidence for early mathematical activity in central and southern africa. On mathematics in the history of subsaharan africa. Benefit of grand ethiopian renaissance dam project gerdp. Defined as the cul tural anthropology of mathematics and mathematical edu cation, it is a relatively new field of interest because the view of mathematics as culturefree, as a universal. See more ideas about books, books to read and black history books. Paulus gerdes 1 exploration of technologies, emerging from african cultural practices, in mathematics education abstract and introduction when students, pupils, teachers or future mathematics teachers believe that mathematics does not have any roots in their culture, a culturalpsychological. Can a lusona with a single closed curve be used for any number of points. Hm 21 literature on mathematics in the history of subsaharan africa. Problemen en oplossingen ebook in kleur by paulus gerdes ebook online at lulu.
Before discussing the benefits, the article gives a general technical overview of the gerdp. Gerdes, paulus 1997b recreations geometriques dafrique lusona. Gerdes described some didactical uses of these drawings and is still developing the research on their mathematical properties. Three years ago, paulus gerdes and ahmed djebbar produced the important bibliography on mathematics in african history and culture.
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