摘要
调日法为刘宋时代天文学家何承天(370—447)所创,行用八百余年,但至元明两代几近湮没。清代数学家李锐(1768—1817)首先阐发古义,顾观光(1799—1862)复加宣扬,这一古代天文-数学方法遂重现光彩。本文旨在分析李、顾二氏考察古历的方法及数理,指出其方法论上的特点及局限性,探讨他们这项工作与中国古典数学的关系,对近年来我国学者有关调日法的研究工作,也附带地提出一些商榷意见。
Li Rui's 'An Examination into Majorant Number and Minorant Number about the Day-Ratio and the Remainder of the Lunar Month' laid the foundation of later researches on the method of regulating the day-ratio. Li's method of weighted addition for majorant number and minorant number revealed the true feature of the ancient method. But in his examination into 51 calendars, he employed a different method called 'seeking majorant number and minorant number from the day-ratio', which was the harbinger to the solution of indeterminate equations through the Method of Seeking Unity by some mathematicians in the Qing Dynasty. Gu Guanguang provided the sufficient condition for the expression of the fraction ((q_2m+q_1n)/(p_2m+p_1n)) from the relevant data in his supplementary works. Gu's algorithm of majorant and minorant number is another wonderful application of the famous Method of the Circulative Substraction between Two Numbers.
出处
《自然科学史研究》
1987年第2期147-156,共10页
Studies in The History of Natural Sciences
