DID MATHEMATICS ORIGINATE FROM AFRICA?

Ishango Bone

Math history books do not provide a lot of information about maths from the African continent. Though references have been made to the fact that the study of mathematics had its origins in Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, often people ignore the fact Egyptian mathematics is in essence a part of the African continent history.

In 1960, Professor Jean de Heinzelina Belgian geologist discovered a small animal bone in Ishango, a small African fishing village on the border of Zaire and Uganda. The small bone was inscribed with marking that is thought by some to represent numbers. It was originally thought to be between 6,000 and 9,000 years old. However, it was recently re-dated and found to be around 25,000 years old. At first glance the Ishango bone is said to resemble a simple writing tool. It is 10 cm long, and at one end is embedded with a piece of quartz thought to be for engraving and tattooing.

Though the engravings on the bone resemble tally marks, various details have led some researchers to suggest that the Ishango Bone is some kind of a mathematical table.

"For example, along one edge the number of notches in each group is a prime number (prime numbers are divisible only by themselves and one; e.g., 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 19, etc.) Coincidence? Perhaps. But then, there are three separate rows of notches, and the total number of notches in each row is a multiple of twelve. Another coincidence? Maybe. But along one row, the notches in adjacent groups appear to be related by a factor of two: 3 notches in one group and 6 in the next, then 4 followed by 8, then 10 and 5. A crude multiplication table? Or another coincidence?"

source planetquest.org

"Most histories of mathematics devote only a few pages to Ancient Egypt and to northern Africa during the 'Middle Ages´. Generally they ignore the history of mathematics in Africa south of the Sahara and give the impression that this history either did not exist or, at least, is not knowable, traceable, or, stronger still, that there was no mathematics at all south of the Sahara. In history, to Europeans, even the 'Africanity' of Egyptian mathematics is often denied or suffers eurocentric views of conceptions of both 'history' and of 'mathematics' form the basis of such views."

Prime numbers or menstrual calendar?

Claims that the Ishango Bone is the oldest table of prime numbers have been challenged by several critics. Further microscopic examination by various researchers allude to the fact that the markings engraved on the bone represented a six-month lunar calendar. Which raises then the question who but a woman keeping track of her cycles would need a lunar calendar?

Other critics are of the view that the mathematical claims for the Ishango bone are exaggerated.
"They suggest that, as there are only 4 numbers on the left hand column of the bone, it may be just a simple coincidence that all of these are prime numbers. The most compelling aspect of their argument is the fact that there is no evidence of the knowledge of prime numbers before the Classical Greek period, at least 10,000 years later. " Source: Simonsingh

Ishango Bone now lies in the Royal Institute for Natural Sciences of Belgium in Brussels, and can only be seen on special requests.

TEXT SOURCES AND MORE INFORMATION

Everyschool.org
Buffalo.edu
Simonsingh.net

RAMA YADE

Ramatoulaye Yade-Zimet aka Rama Yade

Rama Yade is currently the Junior Minister for European Affairs and Human Rights in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in France as of 2007.

Rama Yade was born on December 13, 1976 in Dakar, Senegal. Her mother was a professor of history and her father, also a professor, was the personal secretary of former President of Senegal Léopold Sédar Senghor. Yade moved to France in 1987 with her parents. She first grew up as a child of an affluent diplomat in a pleasant residential district, but later moved in with her mother when her parents separated. A Muslim by faith, Yade was educated at Catholic schools. She attended the Immaculate Conception Convent School and then went on to study political sciences at Institut d'études politiques, graduating in 2000.

RAMA YADE IN SENEGAL

Yade then worked at the Paris Town Hall and the French National Assembly before becoming an administrator at the French Senate in 2002-2007. Her roles at the French Senate included being Director of Communication of the parliamentary television channel Public Sénat and administrator at the Senate's local authorities department.



Yade joined the UMP political party in 2005 and became their national secretary in charge of Francophone affairs in 2006. She credits Nicolas Sarkozy's charisma with making her want to join the UMP, rather than the party's rightist values. In June 2007, Rama Yade was one of three women of African descent appointed to Sarkozy's cabinet. The others are Fadela Amara and Rachida Dati.

RAMA YADE AT WORK

Rama Yade has also written a book, Noirs de France, published by Editions Calmann-Lévy in 2007. Yade is married to Joseph Zimet, an adviser to Secretary of State Jean-Marie Bockel and son of the famous Yiddish singer Ben Zimet.

"There is no denying that Rama Yade is a beautiful symbol and a powerful promise. She carries the hope that France will finally acknowledge cultural harmony as the defining issue of its future, leaving aside the national obsession with generational conflict inherited from May 1968."
Source:Artgoldhammer

RAMA VIDEOS
RAMA YADE chanson

Rama Yade dans l'équipe de Nicolas Sarkozy

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TEXT SOURCES
http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr
Artgoldhammer
Day Life