#246 - 2022 Retrospective/Archive: The Mathematician of Heaven
December 31, 2022
19 min
246
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274 of 386
Episode 246 · December 31, 2022
#246 - 2022 Retrospective/Archive: The Mathematician of Heaven
0:00 / 19:13
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History of China Episodes Around December 31, 2022
Episode 274 of 386 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
19:13This episode#246 - 2022 Retrospective/Archive: The Mathematician of Heaven
Summary
First a brief lookback on the crazy, nutso year that was 2022, as our intrepid host deals with an unfortunate year-end bout of COVID... Then, a reach deep into the archives for an oldie, but goodie from a few centuries ago...
This short episode covers the life of one of the great mathematicians, astronomers, and engineers of ancient China: Zu Chongzhi. In his life from 429-500 CE, he will re-create an ancient precursor to the compass that had been lost for centuries, calculate the motions of the celestial objects with a degree of accuracy in excess of 99.9%, design a comprehensive new calendar system, and derive the value of π to a degree of accuracy that would not be surpassed the world over for another millennium.
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