User talk:Makafaat

Welcome[edit]

Welcome!

Hello, Makafaat, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question and then place {{helpme}} after the question on your talk page. Again, welcome! DavidCBryant 18:28, 3 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Your edits to Indian Mathematics[edit]

The criticisms of Kline and Al-Biruni are too simplistic. Clearly any civilization that can produce the decimal number system, the foundations of algebra (for which al Khwarizmi got misplaced credit), the modern definition of the sine and cosine, and the first examples of power series, needs more sophisticated criticism than your quotes are able to provide. It is true that Indian mathematics arose out of a methodological reflexion on the Vedas, as the "Oral Mathematical Tradition" section states (and not mysticism, as you put it), but so what, it still produced great mathematics. As for Al-Biruni's quote, all I can say is that if Indian mathematics was so confusing, how did the Kerala School, which was completely within the Indian tradition, develop the series expansion of sine, cosine, and arc tangent (200 years before Newton)? And why did the Arabs borrow so much from it, including the Arabic numerals? Here is what John Stillwell says in Chapter 6 of Mathematics, A History (Springer, 2004) about algebra:

“

His (Al-Khwarizmi's) algebra went no further than the solution of quadratic equations, which had already been understood by the Babylonians, presented from the geometric point of view by Euclid, and reduced to a formula by Brahmagupta. Brahmagupta's work, the high point of Indian mathematics to that time, was more advanced that Al-Khwarizmi's in several respects—notation, admission of negative numbers, and the treatment of Diophantine equations—even though it predated al-Khwarizmi and was very likely known to him. Indian mathematics had spread to the Arab world with the general promotion of culture by the eighth-century caliphs of Baghdad, and Arab mathematicians acknowledged the Indian orgin of certain ideas, for instance, decimal numerals. Why then did al-Khwarizmi's work rather than Brahmagupta's become the definitive "algebra"?

Perhaps this is the case where a mathematical terms caught on for accidental reasons. However, it may be that the time was ripe for the idea of algebra to be cultivated, and the simple algebra of al-Khwarizmi served the purpose better than those of his more sophisticated predecessors.

”

Your criticism is not out of place, but it needs to be more nuanced, and I will get to it as I proceed with the revision. You can then offer me your feedback. OK? Regards, Fowler&fowler «Talk» 23:03, 3 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"More than 5000 years of mystic curiosity coupled with natural human love of patterns ‎can produce a few ideas which were refined by Muslims and Europeans in just a few hundred ‎years." I am afraid, with statements like this, you are giving away both your bias and your lack of perspective in the History of Mathematics. It wasn't that the Indians were working in isolation for 5000 years, they clearly got the ideas of trigonometry from the Greeks, which they improved decisively, resulting in the modern definition of the sine and cosine. As for what "mythological and religious triggers" produced this mathematics, that is exactly why I created the section "Oral Mathematical Transmission" and I will next give direct examples in the Vedic period section to show how "ritual" led to geometry. So, please hold your horses, until you see those changes. Regards, Fowler&fowler «Talk» 14:41, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Musharraf - Pakistan Army Number[edit]

In stead of just editing ahead, please present your arguments at Talk:Pervez_Musharraf#First_line.--Bagande 02:08, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]