勾股定理最早证明新考

One New Study for First Proving of the "Pythagorean Theorem"

在西方,一般都认为:希腊数学家半达哥拉斯(Pythagoras)最早证明了勾股定理,因而都习惯地称这个定理为毕达哥拉斯定理。但这一看法历史上并没有可靠的依据。即使承认这一看法,西方最早给出勾股定理证明的时间也不会早于公元前585年,即相传毕达哥拉斯出生的那一年。在中国,一般都认为:中国数学史上最先完成勾股定理证明的数学家,是公元3世纪三国时期的赵爽,他晚于半达哥拉斯几百年。依据现有的文献资料,重新论证了:至迟在公元前1105年,也就是周公去世的那一年,中国古人商高便已经能利用“弦图”来证明一般的勾股定理了。这比西方最早可能给出一般勾股定理证明的公元前585年早520年。

It is generally considered that the Greece mathematician, Pythagoras, first proved the Pythagorean theorem, but this is not reliable. Even if admit this view, in the western countries the time of first proof of the Pythagurean theorem is not probably early than epoch ago 585 year. It is considered that in China, the mathematician of first proof of the Pythagorean theorem is Zhao shuang, who live in the third century and, this essay aralysed that no later than 1105 B.C., the ancient Chinese, Shang Gao, already knew the use of the ＂hypotenuse graph＂ Proving the Pythagorean theorem. This may be 520 years earlier than western countries.