Ancient Mathematical Concepts

Given here are three reading on the origin of mathematics. They pertain to

1. The origin of counting (750KB)
2. The scope of ancient mathematics (72KB)
3. The sources of early mathematics (178KB)
   
   
4. Albrecht Dürer's etching on copper, Melancholia, which shows a 4 x 4 magic square.

Some files are long and make take a few minutes to download. To read and print them you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Each reading, in Acrobat (pdf) format, is a short paper on the aspect in question. Upon completing a reading, try to answer the questions that pertain to it.