Head variant” glyphs for the numbers 1-13 are seen in the inner circle of this plate, created by a local artist at Lake Atitlan.

Blog Post    Due 24^th

The Personified Maya Civilization

First of all, I really enjoyed the presentation given by Myron Medina.  It was fascinating to see Maya civilization from mathematics perspective.  While I was young I heard stories about Maya calendar and Maya prophets. It was full of myth and as a young person, it was a really interesting story to hear.

The way the Mayan record their first 20 digits number using head variants personifies and gives life to each number.  Although Mayan’s bar-and-dot system seems more efficient and practical in recording numbers, it is not as interesting as the head variants system.  One article I have read claimed that the Mayan forgot the source of numb13 and 20 because the Mayan didn’t have a written language but relying on oral legacy for recording their history.  It was said that the glyph for 13 was based on the number of major joints in the human body.  Other sources claimed there were 13 levels of Heaven in Mayan cosmovision, and that the 13-day sub-cycle within the lunar cycle might be the source.

Major explains that “[c]reativity is the ability to make remote connections in the brain… and the ability to make cross-model connections that resonate with other people” (Major, 2017). Relates Major’s point to Hardy-Ramanujan number 1729 and Taxicab number, the seemingly “a rather dull number” turns out to be a very interesting number - “the smallest number expressible as the sum of two positive cubes in two different ways” (Hofstadter 1989; Kanigel 1991; Snow 1993; Hardy 1999, pp. 13 and 68).  Ramanujan, with a curious and creative mind and adventurous attitude, has given life to number 1729.  In his eyes, number 1729 is something with live. 

Ramanujan was a poor math whiz with no formal education and lived in Indian.  Hardy was a prestigious, static math professor who taught in Cambridge university.  The two had nothing in common expect their love for mathematics.  If it were not for the letter from Ramanujan, Hardy would pursue his steady and repetitive academic professional career for the rest of his life.  However, Ramanujan and his mathematical whiz have completed changed Hardy’s life.  I admire the facts that their mutual interesting in mathematics has brought these two people from distinctive social and cultural backgrounds together.  As a teacher, one inspiration from their story is that the importance of being supportive to my students.  In addition, it is crucial to provide opportunities to allow my students to explore the theories and the logics behind each mathematical concept.  It will be beneficial to let them make their conclusions rather than simply give conclusions beforehand.

The most important numbers to me are my daughter’s birthdate. She was born on the last day of summer, which was June 21.  It turns out to be a significant number in Maya’s calendar because it is the longest day in a year.

 

References

Major, A. (2017). Numbers with Personality. In Bridges 2017 Conference Proceedings (pp. 1-8). Tessellations Publishing.

Hardy, G. H. Ramanujan: Twelve Lectures on Subjects Suggested by His Life and Work, 3rd ed. New York: Chelsea, 1999.

Hofstadter, D. R. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. New York: Vintage Books, p. 564, 1989.

Kanigel, R. The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan. New York: Washington Square Press, p. 312, 1991.

Snow, C. P. Foreword to Hardy, G. H. A Mathematician's Apology, reprinted with a foreword by C. P. Snow. New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 37, 1993.