Ancient Mathematics

Plato's Academy in Athens was the think tank of the ancient world and bore this motto over its door: "Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here." Ever since, geometry has been recognized as not only a useful and fascinating skill, but also as a gateway to the highest realms of human thought. Seemingly simple geometric ideas such as the Pythagorean theorem turn out to have profound implications in unexpected places, including our modern conception of space and time.

Twentieth-century China has been caught between a desire to increase its wealth and power in line with other advanced nations, which, by implication, means copying their institutions, practices and values, whilst simultaneously seeking to preserve China's independence and historically formed identity. Over time, Chinese philosophers, writers, artists and politicians have all sought to reconcile these goals and this book shows how this search for a Chinese way penetrated even the most central, least contested area of modernity: science.