Zu Chongzhi

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Statue of Zu Chongzhi

Zu Chongzhi (Template:Zh; 429 – 500<ref>Zu's biography in Book of the Southern Qi indicate that he was 72 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died in the 2nd year of the Yong'yuan era of Xiao Baojuan's reign. (永元二年，冲之卒。年七十二。) Nan Qi Shu, vol.52</ref>), courtesy name Wenyuan (Template:Zh), was a Chinese astronomer, inventor, mathematician, politician, and writer during the Liu Song and Southern Qi dynasties. He was most notable for calculating pi as between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927, a record in precision which would not be surpassed for nearly 900 years.

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Life and works

Template:More citations needed section Chongzhi's ancestry was from modern Baoding, Hebei.<ref>(祖冲之字文远，范阳蓟人也。) Nan Qi Shu, vol.52</ref> To flee from the ravages of war, Zu's grandfather Zu Chang moved to the Yangtze, as part of the massive population movement during the Eastern Jin. Zu Chang (Template:Lang) at one point held the position of Chief Minister for the Palace Buildings (Template:Lang) within the Liu Song<ref>(祖昌，宋大匠卿。) Nan Qi Shu, vol.52 and Nan Shi, vol.72</ref> and was in charge of government construction projects. Zu's father, Zu Shuozhi (Template:Lang), also served the court and was greatly respected for his erudition.

Zu was born in Jiankang. His family had historically been involved in astronomical research, and from childhood Zu was exposed to both astronomy and mathematics. When he was only a youth, his talent earned him much repute.<ref>(沖之稽古，有机思，...) Nan Shi, vol.72</ref> When Emperor Xiaowu of Song heard of him, he was sent to the Hualin Xuesheng (Template:Lang) academy, and later the Imperial Nanjing University (Zongmingguan) to perform research. In 461 in Nanxu (today Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), he was engaged in work at the office of the local governor. In 464, Zu moved to Louxian (today Songjiang district, Shanghai), there, he compiled the Daming calendar and calculated π.

Zu Chongzhi, along with his son Zu Gengzhi, wrote a mathematical text entitled Zhui Shu (Template:Lang; "Methods for Interpolation"). It is said that the treatise contained formulas for the volume of a sphere, cubic equations and an accurate value of pi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This book has been lost since the Song dynasty.

His mathematical achievements included

the Daming calendar (Template:Lang) introduced by him in 465.
distinguishing the sidereal year and the tropical year. He measured 45 years and 11 months per degree between those two; today we know the difference is 70.7 years per degree.
calculating one year as 365.24281481 days, which is very close to 365.24219878 days as we know today.
calculating the number of overlaps between sun and moon as 27.21223, which is very close to 27.21222 as we know today; using this number he successfully predicted an eclipse four times during 23 years (from 436 to 459).
calculating the Jupiter year as about 11.858 Earth years, which is very close to 11.862 as we know of today.
deriving two approximations of pi, (3.1415926535897932...) which held as the most accurate approximation for Template:Pi for over nine hundred years. His best approximation was between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927, with [[Milü|Template:Sfrac]] (Template:Lang, milü, close ratio) and [[Proof that 22/7 exceeds π|Template:Sfrac]] (Template:Lang, yuelü, approximate ratio) being the other notable approximations. He obtained the result by approximating a circle with a 24,576 (= 2¹³ × 3) sided polygon.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This was an impressive feat for the time, especially considering that the counting rods he used for recording intermediate results were merely a pile of wooden sticks laid out in certain patterns. Japanese mathematician Yoshio Mikami pointed out, "Template:Sfrac was nothing more than the Template:Pi value obtained several hundred years earlier by the Greek mathematician Archimedes, however milü Template:Pi = Template:Sfrac could not be found in any Greek, Indian or Arabian manuscripts, not until 1585 Dutch mathematician Adriaan Anthoniszoon obtained this fraction; the Chinese possessed this most extraordinary fraction over a whole millennium earlier than Europe". Hence Mikami strongly urged that the fraction Template:Sfrac be named after Zu Chongzhi as Zu's fraction.<ref>

Template:Cite book</ref> In Chinese literature, this fraction is known as "Zu's ratio". Zu's ratio is a best rational approximation to Template:Pi, and is the closest rational approximation to Template:Pi from all fractions with denominator less than 16600.<ref>The next "best rational approximation" to Template:Pi is Template:Sfrac = 3.1415923874.</ref>

finding the volume of a sphere as Template:PiD³/6 where D is diameter (equivalent to 4/3Template:Pir³).

Astronomy

Zu was an accomplished astronomer who calculated the time values with unprecedented precision. His methods of interpolation and the use of integration were far ahead of his time. Even the results of the astronomer Yi Xing (who was beginning to utilize foreign knowledge) were not comparable. The Sung dynasty calendar was backwards to the "Northern barbarians" because they were implementing their daily lives with the Da Ming Li.Template:Clarify It is said that his methods of calculation were so advanced, the scholars of the Sung dynasty and Indo influence astronomers of the Tang dynasty found it confusing.

Mathematics

Template:Further Template:Pi box The majority of Zu's great mathematical works are recorded in his lost text the Zhui Shu. Most schools argue about his complexity since traditionally the Chinese had developed mathematics as algebraic and equational. Logically, scholars assume that the Zhui Shu yields methods of cubic equations. His works on the accurate value of pi describe the lengthy calculations involved. Zu used [[Liu Hui's π algorithm|Liu Hui's Template:Pi algorithm]] described earlier by Liu Hui to inscribe a 12,288-gon. Zu's value of pi is precise to six decimal places and for almost nine hundred years thereafter no subsequent mathematician computed a value this precise.Template:Sfnp Zu also worked on deducing the formula for the volume of a sphere with his son Zu Gengzhi. In their calculation, Zu used the concept that two solids with equal cross-sectional areas at equal heights must also have equal volumes to find the volume of a Steinmetz solid. And further multiplied the volume of the Steinmetz solid with π/4, therefore found the volume of a sphere as πd^3/6 (d is the diameter of the sphere).

Inventions and innovations

Hammer mills

In 488, Zu Chongzhi was responsible for erecting water powered trip hammer mills which was inspected by Emperor Wu of Southern Qi during the early 490s.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Needham">Needham, Joseph (1965). Science and Civilization in China, Vol. IV: Physics and Physical Technology, p.400. Template:ISBN.</ref><ref name=lu>Template:Cite book</ref>

Paddle boats

Zu is also credited with inventing Chinese paddle boats or Qianli chuan in the late 5th century AD during the Southern Qi dynasty.<ref name="needham 416">Needham, 416</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=lu/> The boats made sailing a more reliable form of transportation and based on the shipbuilding technology of its day, numerous paddle wheel ships were constructed during the Tang era as the boats were able to cruise at faster speeds than the existing vessels at the time as well as being able to cover hundreds of kilometers of distance without the aid of wind.<ref name="needham 416">Needham, 416</ref>

South pointing chariot

The south-pointing chariot device was first invented by the Chinese mechanical engineer Ma Jun (c. 200–265 AD). It was a wheeled vehicle that incorporated an early use of differential gears to operate a fixed figurine that would constantly point south, hence enabling one to accurately measure their directional bearings. This effect was achieved not by magnetics (like in a compass), but through intricate mechanics, the same design that allows equal amounts of torque applied to wheels rotating at different speeds for the modern automobile. After the Three Kingdoms period, the device fell out of use temporarily. However, it was Zu Chongzhi who successfully re-invented it in 478, as described in the texts of the Book of Song and the Book of Qi, with a passage from the latter below:

When Emperor Wu of Liu Song subdued Guanzhong he obtained the south-pointing carriage of Yao Xing, but it was only the shell with no machinery inside. Whenever it moved it had to have a man inside to turn (the figure). In the Sheng-Ming reign period, Gao Di commissioned Zi Zu Chongzhi to reconstruct it according to the ancient rules. He accordingly made new machinery of bronze, which would turn round about without a hitch and indicate the direction with uniformity. Since Ma Jun's time such a thing had not been.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 289">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 289.</ref><ref>Book of Qi, 52.905</ref>

Literature

Zu's paradoxographical work Accounts of Strange Things [[[:Template:Zh]]] survives.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Named after him

Template:Pi ≈ Template:Sfrac as [[Milü|Zu Chongzhi's Template:Pi ratio]]
The lunar crater Tsu Chung-Chi
1888 Zu Chong-Zhi is the name of asteroid 1964 VO1
ZUC stream cipher, an encryption algorithm
Zhuchongzi, a series of quantum computers developed by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei

Notes

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References

Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 2. Cambridge University Press
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External links

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