Legacy of the Luoshu: The 4,000 Year Search for the Meaning of the Magic Square of Order Three

— —

Frank Swetz

Legacy of the Luoshu

The 4,000 Year Search for the Meaning of the Magic Square of Order Three

Frank Swetz

$210

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

A K Peters
16 June 2008

Combinatorics & graph theory; History of mathematics

A symbol of the Divine, a good luck charm, a cosmogram of the world order, a template for fengshui --through the ages, the luoshu, or magic squre of order three, has fascinated people of many different cultures. In this riveting account of cultural detective work, renowned mathematics educator, Frank J. Swetz relates how he uncovered the previously hidden history of the luoshu, from its Chinese origins, shrouded in legend, through its eventual association with Chinese fortunetelling, Daoism, and fengshui, to its incorporation into Islamic astrology and alchemy and its migration into Kabbalistic lore and other occult traditions of the West.

By: Frank Swetz
Imprint: A K Peters
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: 2nd Revised edition
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 430g
ISBN: 9781568814278
ISBN 10: 1568814275
Pages: 228
Publication Date: 16 June 2008
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgments, Prologue, 1. THE JOURNEY BEGINS, 2. ON THE BANKS OF THE LUO RIVER: THE CHINESE ORIGINS OF THE LUOSHU, 3. YINYANG, WUXING, AND KEY NUMBERS IN THE LUOSHU, 4. THE LUOSHU IN COSMIC RITUAL, FORTUNE-TELLING, AND FENGSHUI, 5. CHINESE VARIATIONS ON THE LUOSHU THEME, 6. THE MAGIC SQUARE OF ORDER THREE IN OTHER CULTURES, 7. LUOSHU MISCELLANEA, 8. SOME FINAL THOUGHTS, Epilogue, Notes, Bibliography, Illustration Acknowledgments

Frank J. Swetz, Professor Emeritus at the Pennsylvania State University, is one of America's best known mathematics educators. His interest in how society promotes mathematical knowledge led him to try to understand the cultural history of mathematics. He is co-founding editor of Convergence, an e-journal devoted to the History of Mathematics and its Teaching. He has authored over 300 articles and 20 books, including Was Pythagoras Chinese? An Examination of Right Triangle Theory in Ancient China (1977) and Capitalism and Arithmetic: The New Math of the Fifteenth Century (1987). He edited From Five Fingers to Infinity: A Journey through the History of Mathematics (1994).

Reviews for Legacy of the Luoshu: The 4,000 Year Search for the Meaning of the Magic Square of Order Three

educator Frank J. Swetz presents [Legacy of the Luoshu], an in-depth study of the diverse roles that the luoshu (a 3x3 'magic square' of numbers in a grid, where all rows, columns, and diagonals add up to the same sum) has played in metaphysical and spiritual traditions worldwide. From Chinese fortunetelling to Daoism, and fengshui, to Islamic astrology and Kabbalistic lore, the luoshu has perpetually reappeared throughout global human history. Extensively researched and illustrated with a handful of black-and-white photographs, Legacy of the Luoshu offers a unique glimpse into one aspect of the history of numerology, and is highly recommended especially for mysticism and metaphysical studies shelves. -Wisconsin Bookwtach, October 2008 I found the book very interesting and a joy to read, not least because of the many diagrams and illustrations. What makes this book especially worthwhile, however, is the attention paid to the large variation in cultural meanings, both within China as well as in other countries ... I find in this book a beautiful uncovering of this part of the history of mathematics. -Aldine Van Der Ham-Aaten, MAA Reviews, January 2009 This fascinating book describes the luoshu (i.e. the magic square of order three) from Chinese origins and legends, its role in the development of Chinese mathematical thinking and teaching and its association with the rise of Chinese science and philosophy. It can be recommended to anybody interested in the properties of numbers, roots of number theory and the history of mathematics, as well as Chinese mathematical tradition. -EMS Newsletter, March 2009