1.

Imhotep

Of the non royal population of Egypt, probably one man is known better than all others. So successful
was Imhotep (Imhetep, Greek Imouthes) that he is one of the world's most famous ancients, and his
name, if not his true identity, has been made even more famous by various mummy movies. Today, the
world is probably much more familiar with his name than that of his principal king, Djoser. Imhotep,
who's name means "the one that comes in peace". existed as a mythological figure in the minds of most
scholars until the end of the nineteenth century when he was established as a real historical person.

He was the world's first named architect who built Egypt's first pyramid, is often recognized as the world's
first doctor, a priest,. scribe, sage, poet, astrologer, and a vizier and chief minister, though this role is
unclear, to Djoser (reigned 26302611 BC), the second king of Egypt's third dynasty. He may have lived
under as many as four kings. An inscription on one of that kings statues gives us Imhotep's titles as the
"chancellor of the king of lower Egypt", the "first one under the king", the "administrator of the great
mansion", the "hereditary Noble", the "high priest of Heliopolis", the "chief sculptor", and finally the "chief
carpenter".
Of the details of his life, very little has survived though numerous statues and statuettes of him have been
found. Some show him as an ordinary man who is dressed in plain attire. Others show him as a sage who
is seated on a chair with a roll of papyrus on his knees or under his arm. Later, his statuettes show him
with a god like beard, standing, and carrying the ankh and a scepter.

Inscription with the names of Netjerikhet (Djoser) and Imhotep

Imhotep may have been born in Ankhtow, a suburb of Memphis early in Egyptian history. However, other
classical writers suggested that he was from the village of Gebelein, south of ancient Thebes. His father
might have been an architect named Kanofer. His mother could have been Khreduonkh, who probably

belonged to the province of Mendes, and he may have had a wife named Ronfrenofert but none of this is
by any means certain. As a commoner at birth, he rose through the ranks quickly due to his genius,
natural talents and dedication.
As the High Priest of Heliopolis, he would have been one of the chief priest of Lower (northern) Egypt.
Even though Egypt's capital may have been located at Memphis, it is likely during this period that
Heliopolis was recognized as the religious capital of Egypt.

As a builder, Imhotep is the first master architects who we know by name. He is not only credited as the first pyramid architec
building of Sekhemkhet's unfinished pyramid, and also possibly with the establishment of the Edfu Temple, but that is not cert
world and is recognized as the first monumental stone structure.

Imhotep's best known writings were medical text. As a physician, Imhotep is believed to have been the
author of the Edwin Smith Papyrus in which more than 90 anatomical terms and 48 injuries are described.
He may have also founded a school of medicine in Memphis, a part of his cult center possibly known as
"Asklepion, which remained famous for two thousand years. All of this occurred some 2,200 years before
the Western Father of Medicine Hippocrates was born.
Sir William Osler tells us that Imhotep was the:
"..first figure of a physician to stand out clearly from the mists of antiquity." Imhotep diagnosed and treated
over 200 diseases, 15 diseases of the abdomen, 11 of the bladder, 10 of the rectum, 29 of the eyes, and
18 of the skin, hair, nails and tongue. Imhotep treated tuberculosis, gallstones, appendicitis, gout and
arthritis. He also performed surgery and practiced some dentistry. Imhotep extracted medicine from
plants. He also knew the position and function of the vital organs and circulation of the blood system. The
Encyclopedia Britannica says, "The evidence afforded by Egyptian and Greek texts support the view that
Imhotep's reputation was very respected in early times. His prestige increased with the lapse of centuries
and his temples in Greek times were the centers of medical teachings."
Along with medicine, he was also a patron of architects, knowledge and scribes. James Henry Breasted
says of Imhotep:
"In priestly wisdom, in magic, in the formulation of wise proverbs; in medicine and architecture; this
remarkable figure of Zoser's reign left so notable a reputation that his name was never forgotten. He was
the patron spirit of the later scribes, to whom they regularly poured out a libation from the water-jug of
their writing outfit before beginning their work.

Imhotep is one example of the "personality cult" of Kemet, whereby a learned sage or otherwise
especially venerated person could be deified after death and become a special intercessor for the living,
much as the saints of Roman Catholicism. About 100 years after his death, he was elevated as a medical
demigod. In about 525, around 2,000 years after his death, he was elevated to a full god, and
replaced Nefertum in the great triad at Memphis. In the Turin Canon, he was known as the "son of Ptah".
Imhotep was, together with Amenhotep, the only mortal Egyptians that ever reached the position of full
gods. He was also associated with Thoth, the god of wisdom, writing and learning, and with the Ibises,
which was also associated with Thoth.

We are told that his main centers of worship were in the Ptolemaic temple to Hathor atf Dier elMedina and at Karnak in Thebes, where he was worshipped in conjunction with Amenhotep-Son-of-Hapu,
a sanctuary on the upper terrace of the temple at Deir el-Bahari, at Philae where a chapel of Imhotep
stands immediately in front of the eastern pylon of the temple of Isis and of course, at Memphis in Lower
(northern) Egypt, where a temple was erected to him near the Serapeum. At saqqara, we are told that
people bought offerings to his cult center, including mummified Ibises and sometimes, clay models of
diseased limbs and organs in the hope of being healed.

He was later even worshipped by the early Christians as one with Christ. The early Christians, it will be rec
into tradition that they could not omit them.

He was worshiped even in Greece where he was identified with their god of medicine, Aslepius. . He was
honored by the Romans and the emperors Claudius and Tiberius had inscriptions praising Imhotep placed
on the walls of their Egyptian temples. He even managed to find a place in Arab traditions, especially at
Saqqara where his tomb is thought to be located.
Imhotep lived to a great age, apparently dying in the reign of King Huni, the last of the dynasty. His burial
place has not been found but it has been speculated that it may indeed be at Saqqara, possibly in an
unattested mastaba 3518.
References:

Title

Author

Date

Publisher

Reference
Number

Chronicle of the Pharaohs (The Reign-By-Reign

Thames and Hudson ISBN 0-500Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Clayton, Peter A. 1994
Ltd
05074-0
Egypt)
Complete Pyramids, The (Solving the Ancient
Mysteries)
Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, The

Lehner, Mark

1997

Thames and
Hudson, Ltd

Shaw, Ian;
Harry N. Abrams,
1995
Nicholson, Paul
Inc., Publishers

ISBN 0-50005084-8
ISBN 0-81093225-3

History of Ancient Egypt, A

Grimal, Nicolas 1988

Blackwell

None Stated

Monarchs of the Nile

Dodson, Aidan 1995

Rubicon Press

ISBN 0948695-20-x

Oxford University
Press

ISBN 0-19815034-2

Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, The

Shaw, Ian

2000

http://www.egyptianmyths.net/imhotep.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/283435/Imhotep
http://www.crystalinks.com/imhotep.html

Imhotep, who's name means "the one that comes in peace". existed as a mythological figure in the minds
of most scholars until the end of the nineteenth century when he was established as a real historical
person.

2. Prof. Rachid Yazami

In the last decade lithium ion batteries (LIB) have become the market dominating electrical energy
storage system in a wide range of applications including handheld mobile electronics, electromobility, smart grid and clean energy storage. Since their introduction in the early 90s, LIB have
more than doubled in energy and power density, while their cost fell by over one order of magnitude.
Accordingly, LIB should continue enjoy a 2-digit market expansion in the next decades.
However, the market demand may exceed what current LIB can afford especially in electro-mobility
application where the driving range per charge should reach the level of current IC vehicles (~500
km/full tank) and the charging time should be reduced to 5-10 minutes versus up to current status
typically of many hours/charge. Therefore, efforts have been focused on next generation batteries
with two to three time higher energy and power densities than current. Such an increase requires
either developing new anode, cathode and electrolyte materials with enhanced charge storage
capabilities and rates or moving to new chemistries different from LIB.
In this presentation we will cover a few options for new chemistries, including liquid anode and liquid
cathode concept together with fluoride ion batteries. Although these new chemistries are at the early
stage of development they potentially offer game changing solutions in terms of convenience of use
and range of improvements.
In addition to addressing the energy and power density issues, efforts are directed towards
increasing the battery life by online control of charge and discharge profiles and parameters. The
usual charging protocol consists of applying a constant current (cc) to defined voltage limit followed
by a constant voltage (cv) at that end of charge limit. However, it has been recognized that the cc-cv
protocol doesnt provide the best operation lifespan of the battery and should be replaced by a
smarter, non-linear protocol that takes into account the battery state of health (SOH).
We have developed a smart charging protocol in association with SOH determined by a new
thermodynamics approach and the results show an improvement by a factor close to two of the
battery life.

Dr. Rachid Yazami, a native of Fez, Morocco, received his MS in electrochemistry and PhD in
graphite intercalation compounds for lithium batteries at Frances Grenoble Institute of Technology,
and then began his career at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), also in
Grenoble, where he rose to research director. He has been a visiting associate in materials science
and chemistry at Caltech, in collaboration with JPL/NASA, for 10 years, and in 2010 joined the
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore as a visiting professor in materials science.
His current research addresses lithium batteries and beyond lithium future battery technologies,
including liquid anode alkali metal-air and fluoride-ion batteries.
He is a founder of CFX battery, Inc. (now Contour Energy Systems), a primary and rechargeable
lithium and fluoride battery start-up in Azusa, California; director of energy storage programs at the
Energy Research Institute; and principal investigator of battery research at the Campus for Research
Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) Center for Electromobility, jointly managed by
NTU and the Technological University of Munich. In 2011 he founded KVI PTE, Ltd., a start-up in
Singapore dedicated to battery life and safety enhancement for mobile electronics, large energy
storage, and electric vehicle applications.
In 19791980 Yazami invented the lithium graphite anode, now used in commercial Li-ion batteries,
a $15 billion/year business. He is listed as inventor on more than 70 patents related to battery
technology, including nano-Si- and nano-Ge-based anodes for ultra-high rate charge lithium
batteries, the lithium-carbon fluoride battery for space and medical applications, and more recently
liquid anodes. He has coauthored more than 250 papers on batteries and their materials and
systems. He has received scientific awards from NASA, NATO, IBA, the Japan Society for the
Promotion of Science, and IEEE, among others.

http://ghscientific.com/2014/10/08/day-8-dr-rachid-yazami/
http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Rachid_Yazami

3.Dr. Sameera Moussa

Born on March 3, 1917, in Al-Gharbiya Governorate,

Dr. Sameera Moussa was an outstanding Egyptian scientist; she was the only Egyptian to be
given access to the secret laboratories in the United States as a pioneering nuclear
researcher. In 1939, Sameera Moussa obtained a B.Sc. in biology, First Class Honors, from
the Faculty of Science where she was appointed as a demonstrator. Then she became the
first Assistant Professor at the same faculty and the first woman to hold a university post.
Being the first to obtain a Ph.D. degree in atomic radiation, she earnestly sought to make
nuclear treatment available for every one. She used to say, "Ill make nuclear treatment as
available and as cheap as aspirin."
Moreover, she obtained a Ph.D. degree in properties of material absorption of X-rays. In
England, she pursued her studies, devoting her efforts to make available the full peaceful
use of the atom in combating cancer especially after her mother went through a fierce battle
against cancer. Throughout her intensive research, she came up with a historic equation that
would help break the atoms of cheap metals such as copper, paving the way for a nuclear
bomb almost for free.
With an overwhelming drive to impart her knowledge to those who crave for help, she
sponsored a call for setting an international conference under the banner "Atom for Peace"
where many scientific figures were invited. The conference made a number of
recommendations for setting up a committee for the protection against the nuclear bomb
hazards in which she was an active member.
Sameera Moussa received a scholarship from the Fulbright Atomic Program in order to be
acquainted with the up-to-date atomic researches at California University. In recognition of
her outstanding talent, deep knowledge and expertise, she was allowed to visit the US
secret atomic facilities. The visit raised vehement debate in US academic and scientific
circles as Sameera was the first "alien" to have access to such facilities.

She turned down several proposals to be granted the U.S. citizenship and preferred to
return home to pursue her dream of harnessing atomic power for peace and the welfare of
all humanity.
Her library abounded in books in all branches of science was dedicated after her death
to the Atomic Department of the National Research Centre. The library also contained a
selection of literary works, musical notes as well as Arabic and foreign books by eminent
men of letters such as Taha Hussein, al-Jahiz, al-Aqqad, Tawfeeq el-Hakeem, Jean-Jacque
Rousseau - to name but a few. The library was also rich in her own writings, scientific essays
on Madame Curie, human struggle and other themes. In one of her articles, she said,
"Science should integrate with philosophy; reality is not always that plain but rather
complicated if not sometimes misleading and challenging."
In recognition to her efforts, she was granted many awards abstract and concrete. Among
them were:
- In 1953, she was honored by the Egyptian Army.
- In 1981, she was awarded the Order of Science and Arts, First Class, by Late President
Anwar Sadat.
- A laboratory at the Faculty of Science and a school in her village were named after her.
- The Egyptian TV transmitted a serial titled "The Immortal" dramatizing her biography.
- In 1998, while celebrating the Egyptian Woman Day, it was decided to establish a
cultural solace in her birth place bearing her name.
- A book was published covering her life and scientific contributions.
On August 5th, 1952, she intended to return back home, but she was invited to go on a
trip. On the way, the bus rushed down from a height to 40 feet depth and died immediately.
Sameera Moussa is still remembered by millions of Egyptians with love and devotion for all
her achievements, endeavors as well as her dream to see Egyptian laboratories equipped
with advanced technological apparatus and instruments.

http://arabist.net/hatshepsut/2007/3/3/samiramoussa.html
http://myhero.com/hero.asp?
hero=S_Moussa2_LC_mkels_EG_2014_ul
http://magnology.net/soon2010/articles/pages/ctg/science/samiramoussa.html
https://prezi.com/zqwytyevyoqe/sameera-moussa/

4. Trefor Jenkins

Trefor Jenkins is specialist in human genetics who pioneered the theory that all humans ultimately come
from Africa.
Jenkins was born in the United Kingdom, where he studied medicine at King's College and Westminster
Hospital in London.
He moved to southern Africa in 1960 and has contributed significantly to our understanding of gene
markers in different populations.
This work elucidated the origins and relationships of different African ethnic groups. He was also an
activist for ethics in medicine and was one of the six doctors who questioned the ethics of the medical
establishment of the South African apartheid state after the death in custody of Steve Biko in September
1977.
Jenkins encouraged the work of Himla Soodyall and the "Out-of-Africa" school now enjoys popular
support of scientists and experts and has been turned into very accessible language in books and
television documentaries by the English science writer Stephen Oppenheimer.
Jenkins also founded an undergraduate teaching project in Medical Ethics at the University of the
Witwatersrand and made considerable contributions in this field, notably in the ethical ramifications of
molecular biology.

Jenkins headed the Department of Human Genetics, School of Pathology, at the former South African
Institute for Medical Research and at the University of the Witwatersrand, between 1975 and 1998.
Jenkins was a human rights activist and was one of six doctors, who questioned the ethics of the medical
establishment and the previous South African government after the death, in custody, of Black
Consciousness leader Steve Biko, in September 1977.
Professor Jenkins retired in 1997 and lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view
/7627/5695
http://www.wits.ac.za/alumni/alumnirecognition/ho
norarydegreecitations/3615/treforjenkins.html

5. Christiaan Barnard

Dr. Christiaan N. Barnard, the South African surgeon who performed the world's first
human heart transplant in 1967, died yesterday in Cyprus. He was 78.
Dr. Barnard suffered a fatal asthma attack in the morning after going for a swim at a coastal
resort in Paphos, where he had been vacationing, The Associated Press said, citing a
statement from the Christiaan Barnard Foundation.
Dr. Barnard's first heart transplant patient, Louis Washkansky, lived only 18 days, though
his second, Dr. Philip Blaiberg, lived more than 19 months. A medical circus followed as
surgeons elsewhere tried the experimental operation with little success.

Then with the development of more powerful antirejection drugs and additional experience,
the heart transplant operation became standard. It has been performed an estimated
100,000 times around the world. Today the procedure is carried out in 160 hospitals in the
United States alone, with a one-year success rate of 85 to 90 percent and a five-year success
rate of 75 percent.
Other doctors had been preparing to perform a human heart transplant when Dr. Barnard,
then 45, shocked the world on Dec. 3, 1967, by removing a patient's dying heart and
replacing it with a healthy one taken from an accident victim at Groote Schuur Hospital in
Cape Town.
In the view of some experts, perhaps Dr. Barnard's most important medical contribution
was his courage to proceed with a human heart transplant at a time when other surgeons
who had performed the operation only on animals continued to hesitate to be the first to
transplant a heart in a human.
But to one heart transplant pioneer, Dr. Norman E. Shumway of Stanford University, Dr.
Barnard's surgical feat was outweighed by his decision to choose as the first heart donor a
brain-dead accident victim.
''It made the use of brain-dead victims acceptable for organ transplantation'' because at the
time ''there was a terrible furor about the brain death issue in the United States,'' Dr.
Shumway said in an interview yesterday.
District attorneys had threatened to arrest surgeons who took organs from brain-dead
individuals.
So, Dr. Shumway said, brain surgeons ''at Stanford and other institutions would disconnect
the patient from a respirator, continue their rounds and, 20 minutes later, when the
patient's heart had stopped, declare the patient dead, which, of course, was ridiculous.''
''Without Dr. Barnard's initial use of the brain-dead patient, we could not have gone ahead''
to make heart transplants a standard therapy, Dr. Shumway said. ''It was a monumental
advance, more societal perhaps than medical, because it applied to all organ transplants.''
During apartheid, Dr. Barnard ignored many racial barriers in the country, including
allowing mixed-race nurses in the operating room to treat white patients and transplanting
the heart of a white woman into a black man.

Dr. Barnard condemned South Africa's racial policies while refusing to agree that the
country's political system ought to be turned over to the black majority.
At a news conference yesterday, Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first post-apartheid
president, said Dr. Barnard ''was one of our main achievers'' who ''also has done very well in
expressing his opinion on'' apartheid.
Dr. Barnard's surgical skill and daring catapulted him almost overnight into the role of
international savant, and his views on almost everything from global politics to jogging were
eagerly sought by heads of state, the United States Congress and the general public.
Dr. Barnard, born to genteel poverty as the son of a wilderness missionary, clearly enjoyed
the limelight. His tousled good looks, ready wit and ad libs only quickened his journey to
fame. He was soon enrolled as a member of the jet set, became involved in a tempestuous
affair with an international sex symbol, and then, at the age of 48, divorced his wife of 22
years and married the teen-age daughter of a multimillionaire.
His third marriage, to Karin Barnard, ended earlier this year. He is survived by five of his six
children: Deidre, Christiaan, Frederick, Armin and Lara, and a brother, Marius.
''Any man who says he doesn't like applause and recognition is either a fool or a liar,'' Dr.
Barnard once said in discussing the pressures of public life. ''You learn from mistakes, but
success gives you the courage to go on and do even more.''
Christiaan Neethling Barnard was born on Nov. 8, 1922, in the hamlet of Beaufort West in
the arid wilderness of the Cape Province, to Adam Hendrik Barnard and the former Maria
Elisabeth de Swart. His father was a Dutch Reformed minister who served as a missionary
to racially mixed people and as such was all but shunned by many whites. The minister's
salary was never more than $750 a year, yet he managed to provide for a family with four
sons, sending three through college.
It was his mother, Dr. Barnard often said, who instilled in him and his brothers the belief
that they could do anything they set their minds to -- and do it well. Young Christiaan ran a
record mile in his bare feet; he won a school tennis championship with a borrowed racquet
and cardboard covering the holes in his sneakers, he studied by rural firelight and was at the
top of his class.

After receiving a medical degree from the University of

Cape Town in 1946, Dr. Barnard worked for two years as a
general practitioner in a small farming village, then
returned to the Cape Town Medical School to study birth
defects and diseases affecting the bowel.
In 1955 he went to Minneapolis to study general surgery
with Dr. Owen H. Wangensteen at the University of
Minnesota. In his first weeks there he was so short of
funds that, he said, he had to mow lawns, wash cars and do
other odd jobs to obtain meal money.
Dr. Barnard arrived in Minneapolis just as the field of
open heart surgery was developing, spurred by the new
technologies that produced such equipment as heart-lung
machines. After being invited to lend a hand with the
device one day, Dr. Barnard decided to take further
training at the Medical College of Virginia to become a
heart surgeon in South Africa.
He spent additional years conducting experimental
surgery on animals in Cape Town and assembling a
surgical team, which included his brother, Dr. Marius
Barnard, before he felt that he was ready to ask Mr.
Washkansky in November 1967 to become the first
recipient. Several potential donors were considered, and
the 30-member surgical team was alerted several times,
only to be stopped for various technical reasons.
On Dec. 2, Denise Darvall, a 25-year old accountingmachine operator, was struck by an automobile while
crossing a street in Cape Town. She was rushed to Groote

Schuur Hospital, where her brain was found to be

clinically dead. Her heart was found to be in good
condition, and she had the same blood type as Mr.
Washkansky, a grocer.
In an interview, Dr. Barnard described the crucial
moments:
''As soon as the donor died, we opened her chest and
connected her to a heart-lung machine, suffusing her body
so that we could keep the heart alive. I cut out the heart.
We examined it, and as soon as we found it was normal,
we put it in a dish containing solution at 10 degrees
centigrade to cool it down further.
''We then transferred this heart to the operating room
where we had the patient and we connected it to the heartlung machine. From the time we cut out the heart it was
four minutes until we had oxygenated blood going back to
the heart muscle from the donor's heart-lung machine. We
then excised the patient's heart.''
The donor heart was sutured in place, the organ was
warmed gently and as it approached normal body
temperature it started to beat vigorously.
But Mr. Washkansky was left open to infection from the
large doses of immune suppressing drugs (azathioprine
and hydrocortisone) and radiation, and he died of
pneumonia.
On Jan. 2, 1968, Dr. Barnard caused a sensation in South
Africa by transplanting the heart of a young man of mixed

race into a retired white dentist, Philip Blaiberg. He

survived for 19 months and 15 days, in part because Dr.
Barnard's team had reduced the amount of antirejection
drugs.
Dr. Barnard also performed heart-lung transplants and
''piggyback'' transplants in which he grafted a second
human heart to the patient's damaged heart with the aim
of giving it time to heal.
About 2,100 heart transplants are performed in the United
States each year. But because of a severe shortage of
donors, surgeons are testing self-contained artificial hearts
and other mechanical devices to keep patients alive until a
donor heart becomes available for transplant. Researchers
are also trying to develop cross-species transplants.
Dr. Barnard continued operating until 1983, when his
once-nimble fingers became gnarled by the rheumatoid
arthritis that had been first diagnosed when he was in
Minneapolis. In recent years, he spent most of his time in
Austria, The Associated Press reported.
Dr. Barnard turned to writing, producing an
autobiography and several novels that were reviewed
politely, though his literary skill never drew the attention
his surgical skills attracted.
In 1984, he became scientist in residence at Baptist
Medical Center in Oklahoma City. In 1986, Dr. Barnard
endorsed Glycel, an antiaging skin cream, but its
questionable effectiveness tarnished his reputation.

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ba-Be/Barnard-Christiaan.html

6.Norbert Okec

March 6, 2012
--Norbert Okec is a former bio-chemistry engineer from Uganda who has designed and built a solar-powered traffic
light controller system. Traffic lights are not many in his city (Gulu, in Nothern Uganda), and the current ones do not
always operate effectively. It is from this observation that Norbert Okec decided to develop his system that is
essentially
composed
of
recycled
materials.

The traffic light system is equipped with LED (light emitting diodes) that consumes little power; which is another
advantage of the system that uses solar power as an alternative energy. In other words, the system should also be
able to use electricity from the power grid. A controller board controls the whole system that turns on traffic lights to
the
appropriate
color.
Norbert Okec has succeeded to make a complicated system (traffic lights) as simple as possible. Thanks to its
simplicity, the system can be easily designed and maintained. The invention is open source, and the inventor is
working on a free e-book (with circuits diagram of the controller board, among others) that will explain how the
system
can
be
manufactured.
Norbert Okec is showing that traffic lights can be manufactured in Africa and installed at most crossroads. As Africa
is rather known for power outages, powering traffic lights with solar energy is an eco-friendly alternative that
African authorities should be looking at seriously.

7. Arthur Zang

Arthur Zang, a 24 year-old Cameroonian engineer, has invented the Cardiopad, a

touch screen medical tablet that enables heart examinations such as the
electrocardiogram (ECG) to be performed at remote, rural locations while the
results of the test are transferred wirelessly to specialists who can interpret them.
The device spares African patients living in remote areas the trouble of having to
travel to urban centers to seek medical examinations.
According to Zang, the Cardiopad is the first fully touch screen medical tablet
made in Cameroon and in Africa. He believes it is an invention that could save
numerous human lives, and says the reliability of the pad device is as high as
97.5%. Zang says he invented the device in order to facilitate the treatment of
patients with heart disease across Cameroon and the rest of Africa. So far, several
medical tests have been carried out with the Cardiopad which have been validated
by the Cameroonian scientific community.
According to Radio Netherlands, which broke the story of the Cardiopad earlier
this week,
the tablet is used as a classical electrocardiograph device: electrodes are
placed on the patient and connected to a module that, in turn, connects to
the tablet. When a medical examination is performed on a patient in a
remote village, for example, the results are transmitted from the nurses
tablet to that of the doctor who then interprets them.
According to Zang, software built into the device allows the doctor to give
computer assisted diagnosis.

Cameroon, a Central African country with a population of some 20 million people,

lays claim to only 30 heart surgeons. To make matters worse, these heart surgeons
are mainly concentrated in Douala or Yaound, the countrys two most important
economic hubs. This severe deficit of medical personnel means that patients with
heart ailments usually have to travel long distances to undergo heart examinations
and consult with doctors. Even at that, it is still not easy. On some occasions,
patients must make appointments months in advance, and some even die in the
process of waiting for their appointment.
Zang believes his invention will cut down the cost of heart examinations. The
Cardiopad is already generating a lot of interest in African tech and medical
circles. The inventor is currently looking for venture capital to commercially
produce the device.
http://www.africatopsuccess.com/en/2014/03/31/arthur-zang-25-years-and-creator-of-cardiopadthe-first-medical-touchpad-made-in-africa/

8.Anthony Mutua

24-year-old Anthony Mutua developed a thin crystal chip that fits into shoe soles and generates
electricity under pressure.
The $46 device connects to a users phone via a thin extension cord, ultimately allowing people to
charge their mobile batteries while going for a walk. Mutua says the chip fits into all footwear except
bedroom slippers and will last for almost three years provided the shoes dont wear out first.
Mutua first unveiled a prototype at the Science and Innovation Week in Nairobi and has since
patented the idea in preparation for mass production.

Anthony Mutua, 24, has developed an ultra-thin chip of crystals essential for
charging mobile phones when fitted to shoe soles. The technology can generate
electricity when put under pressure.
The shoe, which generates electricity once stepped on when the user walks, Mutua
says, harvests the energy in two ways.
It charges the phone when the wearer is in motion through a thin extension cable that
runs from the shoe to the pocket. The shoe can also charge the phone immediately
after a walk since the crystals have the capacity to store electric energy.
Mutua says the second option is about to go into mass production since it is likely to
prove more popular with people looking to charge mobile phones as a commercial
activity. He explains this is because it has the ability to charge several phones
simultaneously.
The chip can be inserted inside the sole of any shoe apart from bathroom slippers, says
Mutua, in case the shoe gets worn out, you can always transfer it to the new one.
The chip can be fitted to a users shoe at Ksh3,800 ($46). It has two and a half-year
warranty, provided the shoe is not stolen or lost, says Mutua.
Mutua showcased the innovation at the Science and Innovation Week in Nairobi
Tuesday. He has since patented his idea with the Kenya Industrial Property Institute, the
body responsible for patenting and protecting intellectual property in Kenya.

National Council of Science and Technology (NCST) funded the project to a tune of
KSh500,000 (US$6024). The council has pledged to fund its mass production to reach
out to a larger market.
NCST has previously funded innovations in Kenya to the prototype levels although it
acknowledges most of the innovations never get to reach the market since the
developers luck funds to commercialize their products.

Anthony Mutua , 24, Kenyan , invented shoes that recharge batteries ! In fact, he used the
Nike sports shoes as samples.
The idea : Use the energy created by the movements of our bodies to generate electricity
and thus recharge batteries of mobile phones or other electronic devices . The battery is
placed in the sole of your shoe and the piezoelectric system activates each time our foot on
the ground and produces renewable energy without spending a penny .
Actually, there are two ways to collect energy : connect the camera directly to recharge your
shoe via a large enough cable for the device in question can be placed and fit in a pocket or
keep the electricity generated in the system battery to recharge when seated. The chip
would fit prior to the sole of any shoe and would even be transferable to another pair in the
event of wear . Doubts remain as to their suitability for flip flops and some slippers.

The invention is estimated at 35 euros and is a further step towards renewable energy and
sustainable development . The concept of Mutua obtained a grant of 6000 dollars (about
4700 euros) of the National Council of Kenya Science and Technology (NCST ) . These shoes
have not yet reached the critical stage of commercialization .

9. Raphael Ernest Grail Armattoe

Dr Armattoe comes from the Ayivor family lineage (clan). The grand father was Chief
Baku Ayivor II of Denu and the father, Glikpo Armattoe Ayivor, an industrialist. Denu
is part and parcel of Ghana. Dr Armattoe campaigned for Trans -Volta Togoland
(TRUST TERRITORY) to be part of Togo but in a plebiscite in1956 they decided to be
part of Ghana after he had long died.
Dr Armattoe was educated at Mfantsipim Secondary School with K.A. Busia, who
became the prime Minister of Ghana in 1969. He was a member of the Ghana
Congress Party, then headed by Justice Nii Amaa Ollennu and had people like Busia
and Tawia Adamafio as members.
Raphael Ernest Grail Armattoe was born in August 1913 to a prominent family of the Ewe
people in Denu , West Africa. He came to Europe at the age of 17 to continue his
education. He studied in Germany, France and Britain; coming to Northern Ireland shortly
after receiving a medical qualification in Edinburgh in 1938.
Besides practicing medicine in Derry, Raphael Armattoe made a unique contribution to the
intellectual life of the city He gave talks on a variety of subjects, mainly medical and
anthropological, to diverse groups such as the Great James Street Womens Guild, the
Amateur Radio Club and the St Johns Ambulance Society. The doctor wrote articles for
the Londonderry Sentinel as well as for academic journals such as Man, Nature andAfrican
Affairs.
From his base at Northland Rd, Armattoe wrote a book on The Golden Age Of West African
Civilization(published in 1946) and issued numerous pamphlets. He also found time to give
lectures and make presentations in Dublin and London and further afield. He spoke at the
1945 Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England and the Scientific and Cultural
Conference for World Peace in New York in 1949. At both of these major conferences, Dr
Armattoe called for independence of the African colonies.

It is a sign of the esteem in which Armattoe was held, that members of both Stormont and
Dil Eireann as well as three Westminster Members of Parliament nominated the doctor for
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949.
In 1948 Dr. Armattoe received a grant from the Wenner Gren Foundation for anthropology
research. The grant allowed him to return to West Africa for the first time in eighteen years.
He returned to Derry half a year later to write up his reports. Most of the papers published
as a result of this research trip were studies of Ewe physical anthropology, especially
charting the distribution of blood groups, a field of study that was just emerging at the time.
Armattoe also brought many botanical specimens back to Ireland with him, intending to
study their curative properties.
Towards the end of 1950 Armattoe and his family settled in Kumasi, in what is now Ghana,
where he set up a medical clinic and research centre. He now embarked on new
adventures in poetry and politics. His two books of poetry, Between The Forest And The
Sea and Deep Down In The Black Mans Mind, are of continuing interest to students of
African literature.
After the First World War, the former German colony of Togoland was divided into two
mandates, one under French and the other under British rule. As the Togoland mandates
and the Gold Coast colony were moving towards independence, Armattoe called for British
and French Togoland to be reunited as a single country, rather than British Togoland
becoming part of Ghana, as it eventually did become. Armattoe became active in both the
pre-independence Ghana Congress Party, in opposition to Kwame Nkrumah; and the Joint
Togoland Congress.
Dr Armattoe travelled to New York in 1953 to address a United Nations commission on the
Eweland question and Togoland unification. On his way back to Kumasi, he visited the
British Isles and Germany. Taken sick en route, Armattoe was treated in hospital in
Hamburg, where he died on 21 December 1953
Editors Note: Dr Armattoe discovered the Abochi drug that saved millions of lives in
Africa in the 1940s. It was very efficacious in treating water borne diseases, ring
worms and other allied diseases. The Nigerian government bought the patent for
thounsands of pounds and named it Abochi. His research company was known as
Lomoshie Research Institute.
Rachel Naylor, based in the University of Ulster at Magee said that she had done quite a lot
of work in the area where Armattoe was born. She was sure that people in that part of
Ghana and across the border in Togo would be very proud that this honour had been given
to a person from that area and she hoped that they would get to know about it.
Here are some photos of the event.

People gather for the plaque unveiling

Stanley Armattoe unveils his fathers plaque

Stanley Armattoe unveils his fathers plaque
After James King had read one of Dr Armattoes poems, Requiem, Stanley Armattoe
thanked the Circle for this tribute to his father. He said the plaque was a remarkable

acknowledgement of his fathers impact on the people of Derry and of the positive part
played by African people in the life and culture of the City and of Northern Ireland.

Alfred Abolarin, Programme Manager, ACSONI

Alfred Abolarin, Manager of the African and Caribbean Support Organisation Northern
Ireland, said that this was a significant and symbolic milestone in the history of the Irish
African community in Northern Ireland. The life and work of Dr. Armattoe proved that
Africans can and have contributed to civic society in the Province. For too long the
perception of African people had been one of negativity. However, today the Ulster History
Circle, by this plaque, was sending a different message; a message of equality and
protection of human rights, a message of inclusivity, of hope and of positive change.
Elly Omondi Odhiambo said that his first encounter with the famous name of Armattoe was
when he had been doing research at Magee and had difficulty finding anything about
African people in the West of the province. There had been anti-slavery Africans who visited
Ireland, such as Frederick Douglas and Olaudah Equiano. Armattoe was trying to defeat
discrimination through his writing and his great book about West African civilisation in which
he had set out to refute the Western view that African art and culture was simplistic. It was a
pity that his work was not taken seriously because he died at such a young age. It was
gratifying to note however that a lot of people were now interested in writing about him.
Rachel Naylor, based in the University of Ulster at Magee said that she had done quite a lot
of work in the area where Armattoe was born. She was sure that people in that part of
Ghana and across the border in Togo would be very proud that this honour had been given
to a person from that area and she hoped that they would get to know about it.

http://kwekudeetripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com/2013/12/drraphael-ernest-grail-armattoe.html

10. Himla Soodyall

Himladevi Soodyall was born in Durban in 1963 and attended Gandhi-Desai High
School . After matriculation she enrolled at the University of Durban-Westville, obtaining
BSc and BSc (Hons) degrees before moving to Johannesburg in 1986 to register for an
MSc in biotechnology at the University of the Witwatersrand .
Soodyall joined the South African Institute for Medical Research (SAIMR) in 1987 as a
medical scientist, working with Professor Trefor Jenkins in the Department of Human
Genetics. Under his guidance and supervision she completed her part-time doctoral
research in the field of human population and evolutionary genetics, obtaining a PhD in
1993.
She was awarded a Fogarty International Fellowship from the National Institutes of
Health in the United States and spent the next four years at Penn State University ,
Pennsylvania . There she carried out post-doctoral research with Professor Mark
Stoneking, one of the first researchers to advance the Out of Africa hypothesis on
human origins.
In 1996 Soodyall returned to the SAIMR and set up her own laboratory, conducting
population and evolutionary genetics research within the Department of Human
Genetics. In 1999 her work was recognised when she received the President's Award
from the NRF and the university's Vice-Chancellor's Award for Research.
In 2001 she was appointed director of the Human Genomic Diversity and Disease
Research Unit (HGDDRU), which the Medical Research Council had established in
partnership with the university (WHICH UNIVERSITY IS THIS? AHH) and the National
Health Laboratory Service, as the SAIMR was now called. She is currently a principal
medical scientist at the NHLS as well as an associate professor at the University of
Witwatersrand (Wits)
In her research Soodyall employs the tools commonly used in molecular biology to study
segments of the human genome in living people and to reconstruct the prehistory and
evolution of modern humans. By using different types of DNA markers, her research has
shown that living Khoi and San populations have retained some of the ancestral DNA
signatures found in modern humans, making southern Africa the most likely geographic
region of origin of the human species.

As a result of her work, Soodyall has been invited to participate in the global
Genographic Project, a five-year project which was launched on 13 April 2005 by the
National Geographic Society in partnership with IBM and the Waitt Family Foundation, as
the principal investigator for sub-Saharan Africa .
In addition to her outstanding work on human origins, Himladevi Soodyall is tireless in
her efforts to bring understanding about her research both to scholars and to the
general public, works to advance research in South Africa and is actively involved in
broadening public understanding of science.

http://h3africa.org/component/contact/contact/15other/37-dr-himla-soodyall

AFRICAN MATHEMATICIANS
1.Euclid

Euclid, Greek Eukleides (born c. 300 BCE, Alexandria,Egypt), the most prominent
mathematician of Greco-Roman antiquity, best known for his treatise on geometry, theElements.

Life
Of Euclids life nothing is known except what the Greek philosopher Proclus (c. 410485 CE)
reports in his summary of famous Greek mathematicians. According to him, Euclid taught
atAlexandria in the time of Ptolemy I Soter, who reigned over Egypt from 323 to 285 BCE.
Medieval translators and editors often confused him with the philosopher Eukleides of Megara, a
contemporary of Plato about a century before, and therefore called him
Megarensis. Proclussupported his date for Euclid by writing Ptolemy once asked Euclid if there
was not a shorter road to geometry than through the Elements, and Euclid replied that there was
no royal road to geometry. Today few historians challenge the consensus that Euclid was older
than Archimedes(c. 290/280212/211 BCE).

Sources And contents of the Elements

Euclid compiled his Elements from a number of works of earlier men. Among these
areHippocrates of Chios (flourished c. 460 BCE), not to be confused with the
physician Hippocrates of Cos (c. 460377 BCE). The latest compiler before Euclid was Theudius,
whose textbook was used in the Academy and was probably the one used by Aristotle (384
322 BCE). The older elements were at once superseded by Euclids and then forgotten. For his
subject matter Euclid doubtless drew upon all his predecessors, but it is clear that the whole
design of his work was his own, culminating in the construction of the five regular solids, now
known as the Platonic solids.
A brief survey of the Elements belies a common belief that it concerns only geometry. This
misconception may be caused by reading no further than Books I through IV, which cover
elementary plane geometry. Euclid understood that building a logical and rigorous geometry (and
mathematics) depends on the foundationa foundation that Euclid began in Book I with 23
definitions (such as a point is that which has no part and a line is a length without breadth),
five unproved assumptions that Euclid called postulates (now known as axioms), and five further
unproved assumptions that he called common notions. Book I then proves elementary theorems

about triangles and parallelograms and ends with the Pythagorean theorem. (For Euclids proof
of the theorem, see Sidebar: Euclids Windmill Proof.)
Euclids axioms Euclids common notions
01

Given two points there is one straight line that joins them.

02

A straight line segment can be prolonged indefinitely.

03

A circle can be constructed when a point for its centre and a distance for its radius are given.

04

All right angles are equal.

If a straight line falling on two straight lines makes the interior angles on the same side less than two right

05

angles, the two straight lines, if produced indefinitely, meet on that side on which the angles are less than the
two right angles.

06

Things equal to the same thing are equal.

07

If equals are added to equals, the wholes are equal.

08

If equals are subtracted from equals, the remainders are equal.

09

Things that coincide with one another are equal.

10

The whole is greater than a part.

The subject of Book II has been called geometric algebra because it states algebraic identities as
theorems about equivalent geometric figures. Book II contains a construction of the section,
the division of a line into two parts such that the ratio of the larger to the smaller segment is
equal to the ratio of the original line to the larger segment. (This division was renamed the
golden section in the Renaissance after artists and architects rediscovered its pleasing
proportions.) Book II also generalizes the Pythagorean theorem to arbitrary triangles, a result that
is equivalent to the law of cosines (see plane trigonometry). Book III deals with properties of
circles and Book IV with the construction of regular polygons, in particular the pentagon.
Book V shifts from plane geometry to expound a general theory of ratios and proportions that is
attributed by Proclus (along with Book XII) to Eudoxus of Cnidus (c. 390350 BCE). While
Book V can be read independently of the rest of the Elements, its solution to the problem
ofincommensurables (irrational numbers) is essential to later books. In addition, it formed the
foundation for a geometric theory of numbers until an analytic theory developed in the late 19th
century. Book VI applies this theory of ratios to plane geometry, mainly triangles and
parallelograms, culminating in the application of areas, a procedure for solving quadratic
problems by geometric means.

Books VIIIX contain elements of number theory, where number (arithmos) means positive
integers greater than 1. Beginning with 22 new definitionssuch as unity, even, odd, and prime
these books develop various properties of the positive integers. For instance, Book VII
describes a method, antanaresis (now known as the Euclidean algorithm), for finding the greatest
common divisor of two or more numbers; Book VIII examines numbers in continued
proportions, now known as geometric sequences (such as ax, ax2, ax3, ax4); and Book IX
proves that there are an infinite number of primes.
According to Proclus, Books X and XIII incorporate the work of the
Pythagorean Theaetetus (c.417369 BCE). Book X, which comprises roughly one-fourth of
the Elements, seems disproportionate to the importance of its classification of incommensurable
lines and areas (although study of this book would inspire Johannes Kepler [15711630] in his
search for a cosmological model).
Books XIXIII examine three-dimensional figures, in Greek stereometria. Book XI concerns the
intersections of planes, lines, and parallelepipeds (solids with parallel parallelograms as opposite
faces). Book XII applies Eudoxuss method of exhaustion to prove that the areas of circles are to
one another as the squares of their diameters and that the volumes of spheres are to one another
as the cubes of their diameters. Book XIII culminates with the construction of the five
regular Platonic solids (pyramid, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron) in a given
sphere, as displayed in the animation.
The unevenness of the several books and the varied mathematical levels may give the impression
that Euclid was but an editor of treatises written by other mathematicians. To some extent this is
certainly true, although it is probably impossible to figure out which parts are his own and which
were adaptations from his predecessors. Euclids contemporaries considered his work final and
authoritative; if more was to be said, it had to be as commentaries to theElements.

Renditions of the Elements

In ancient times, commentaries were written by Hero of Alexandria (flourished 62 CE), Pappus of
Alexandria (flourished c. 320 CE), Proclus, and Simplicius of Cilicia (flourished c. 530 CE). The
father of Hypatia, Theon of Alexandria (c. 335405 CE), edited the Elements with textual
changes and some additions; his version quickly drove other editions out of existence, and it
remained the Greek source for all subsequent Arabic and Latin translations until 1808, when an
earlier edition was discovered in the Vatican.
The immense impact of the Elements on Islamic mathematics is visible through the many
translations into Arabic from the 9th century forward, three of which must be mentioned: two
byal-Hajjj ibn Ysuf ibn Mat ar, first for the Abbsidcaliph Hrn al-Rashd (ruled 786809)
and again for the caliph al-Mamn (ruled 813833); and a third by Ish q ibn Hunayn (died
910), son of Hunayn ibn Ish q (808873), which was revised by Thbit ibn Qurrah (c. 836901)
and again by Nas r al-Dn al-Ts(120174). Euclid first became known in Europe through Latin
translations of these versions.
The first extant Latin translation of the Elements was made about 1120 by Adelard of Bath, who
obtained a copy of an Arabic version in Spain, where he traveled while disguised as a Muslim
student. Adelard also composed an abridged version and an edition with commentary, thus
starting a Euclidean tradition of the greatest importance until the Renaissance unearthed Greek

manuscripts. Incontestably the best Latin translation from Arabic was made by Gerard of
Cremona (c. 111487) from the Ish q-Thbit versions.
The first direct translation from the Greek without an Arabic intermediary was made by
Bartolomeo Zamberti and published in Vienna in Latin in 1505, and the editio princeps of the
Greek text was published in Basel in 1533 by Simon Grynaeus. The first English translation of
theElements was by Sir Henry Billingsley in 1570. The impact of this activity on European
mathematics cannot be exaggerated; the ideas and methods of Kepler, Pierre de Fermat (1601
65), Ren Descartes (15961650), and Isaac Newton (1642 [Old Style]1727) were deeply
rooted in, and inconceivable without, Euclids Elements.

Other writings
The Euclidean corpus falls into two groups: elementary geometry and general mathematics.
Although many of Euclids writings were translated into Arabic in medieval times, works from
both groups have vanished. Extant in the first group is the Data (from the first Greek word in the
book, dedomena [given]), a disparate collection of 94 advanced geometric propositions that all
take the following form: given some item or property, then other items or properties are also
giventhat is, they can be determined. Some of the propositions can be viewed as geometry
exercises to determine if a figure is constructible by Euclidean means. On Divisions (of figures)
restored and edited in 1915 from extant Arabic and Latin versionsdeals with problems of
dividing a given figure by one or more straight lines into various ratios to one another or to other
given areas.
Four lost works in geometry are described in Greek sources and attributed to Euclid. The purpose
of the Pseudaria (Fallacies), says Proclus, was to distinguish and to warn beginners against
different types of fallacies to which they might be susceptible in geometrical reasoning.
According to Pappus, the Porisms (Corollaries), in three books, contained 171
propositions.Michel Chasles (17931880) conjectured that the work contained propositions
belonging to the modern theory of transversals and to projective geometry. Like the fate of
earlier Elements, Euclids Conics, in four books, was supplanted by a more thorough book on
the conic sectionswith the same title written by Apollonius of Perga (c. 262190 BCE). Pappus
also mentioned theSurface-loci (in two books), whose subject can only be inferred from the title.
Among Euclids extant works are the Optics, the first Greek treatise on perspective, and
thePhaenomena, an introduction to mathematical astronomy. Those works are part of a corpus
known as the Little Astronomy that also includes the Moving Sphere by Autolycus of Pitane.
Two treatises on music, the Division of the Scale (a basically Pythagorean theory of music)
and the Introduction to Harmony, were once mistakenly thought to be from The Elements of
Music, a lost work attributed by Proclus to Euclid.

Assessment
Almost from the time of its writing, the Elements exerted a continuous and major influence on
human affairs. It was the primary source of geometric reasoning, theorems, and methods at least
until the advent of non-Euclidean geometry in the 19th century. It is sometimes said that, other
than the Bible, the Elements is the most translated, published, and studied of all the books
produced in the Western world. Euclid may not have been a first-class mathematician, but he set
a standard for deductive reasoning and geometric instruction that persisted, practically
unchanged, for more than 2,000 years.
Bartel Leendert van der WaerdenChristian Marinus Taisbak

MAJOR WORKS
Euclids extant works are collected in Euclidis Opera Omnia, ed. by J.L. HEIBERG and H.
MENGE, 9 vol. (18831916), containing the Elementa, Libri I
XIII, Elementorum, Data, Optica, andPhaenomena.
The standard English translation of the Elements is T.L. HEATH, The Thirteen Books of
Euclids Elements, 3 vol., (1908; 2nd ed., rev. with additions, 1926). A restoration of
Euclids On Divisions isRAYMOND CLARE ARCHIBALD, Euclids Book on Divisions of
Figures (1915). Euclids contributions to astronomy are accessible in a recent English
translation and commentary by J.L. BERGGREN andR.S.D. THOMAS, Euclids
Phaenomena (1996).

http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Euclid.html
http://www.famousscientists.org/euclid/
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Du-Fi/Euclid.html

2. Claudius Ptolemaeus

Ptolemy, Latin in full Claudius Ptolemaeus (born c. 100 CE

died c. 170), an Egyptian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer of Greek descent who
flourished in Alexandriaduring the 2nd century CE. In several fields his writings represent the
culminating achievement of Greco-Roman science, particularly his geocentric (Earth-centred)
model of the universe now known as the Ptolemaic system.

Virtually nothing is known about Ptolemys life except what can be inferred from his writings.
His first major astronomical work, the Almagest, was completed about 150 CE and contains
reports of astronomical observations that Ptolemy had made over the preceding quarter of a
century. The size and content of his subsequent literary production suggests that he lived until
about 170 CE.

Astronomer
The book that is now generally known as the Almagest (from a hybrid of Arabic and Greek, the
greatest) was called by Ptolemy H mathmatik syntaxis (The Mathematical Collection)
because he believed that its subject, the motions of the heavenly bodies, could be explained in
mathematical terms. The opening chapters present empirical arguments for the
basiccosmological framework within which Ptolemy worked. Earth, he argued, is a stationary
sphere at the centre of a vastly larger celestial sphere that revolves at a perfectly uniform rate
around Earth, carrying with it the stars, planets, Sun, and Moonthereby causing their daily
risings and settings. Through the course of a year the Sun slowly traces out a great circle, known
as theecliptic, against the rotation of the celestial sphere. (The Moon and planets similarly travel
backwardhence, the planets were also known as wandering starsagainst the fixed stars
found in the ecliptic.) The fundamental assumption of the Almagest is that the apparently
irregular movements of the heavenly bodies are in reality combinations of regular, uniform,
circular motions.
How much of the Almagest is original is difficult to determine because almost all of the
preceding technical astronomical literature is now lost. Ptolemy credited Hipparchus (mid-2nd
century BCE) with essential elements of his solar theory, as well as parts of his lunar theory, while
denying that Hipparchus constructed planetary models. Ptolemy made only a few vague and
disparaging remarks regarding theoretical work over the intervening three centuries; yet the
study of the planets undoubtedly made great strides during that interval. Moreover, Ptolemys
veracity, especially as an observer, has been controversial since the time of the astronomerTycho
Brahe (15461601). Brahe pointed out that solar observations Ptolemy claimed to have made in
141 are definitely not genuine, and there are strong arguments for doubting that Ptolemy
independently observed the more than 1,000 stars listed in his star catalog. What is not disputed,
however, is the mastery of mathematical analysis that Ptolemy exhibited.
Ptolemy was preeminently responsible for the geocentric cosmology that prevailed in the Islamic
world and in medieval Europe. This was not due to the Almagest so much as a later

treatise, Hypotheseis tn planmenn (Planetary Hypotheses). In this work he proposed what is

now called the Ptolemaic systema unified system in which each heavenly body is attached to
its own sphere and the set of spheres nested so that it extends without gaps from Earth to the
celestial sphere. The numerical tables in the Almagest (which enabled planetary positions and
other celestial phenomena to be calculated for arbitrary dates) had a profound influence on
medieval astronomy, in part through a separate, revised version of the tables that Ptolemy
published as Procheiroi kanones (Handy Tables). Ptolemy taught later astronomers how to use
dated, quantitative observations to revise cosmological models.
Ptolemy also attempted to place astrology on a sound basis in Apotelesmatika (Astrological
Influences), later known as the Tetrabiblos for its four volumes. He believed that astrology is a
legitimate, though inexact, science that describes the physical effects of the heavens on terrestrial
life. Ptolemy accepted the basic validity of the traditional astrological doctrines, but he revised
the details to reconcile the practice with an Aristotelian conception of nature, matter, and change.
Of Ptolemys writings, the Tetrabiblos is the most foreign to modern readers, who do not accept
astral prognostication and a cosmology driven by the interplay of basic qualities such as hot,
cold, wet, and dry.

Mathematician
Ptolemy has a prominent place in the history of mathematics primarily because of the
mathematical methods he applied to astronomical problems. His contributions to trigonometryare
especially important. For instance, Ptolemys table of the lengths of chords in a circle is the
earliest surviving table of a trigonometric function. He also applied fundamental theorems in
spherical trigonometry (apparently discovered half a century earlier by Menelaus of Alexandria)
to the solution of many basic astronomical problems.
Among Ptolemys earliest treatises, the Harmonics investigated musical theory while steering a
middle course between an extreme empiricism and the mystical arithmetical speculations
associated with Pythagoreanism. Ptolemys discussion of the roles of reason and the senses in
acquiring scientific knowledge have bearing beyond music theory.
Probably near the end of his life, Ptolemy turned to the study of visual perception
in Optica(Optics), a work that only survives in a mutilated medieval Latin translation of an
Arabic translation. The extent to which Ptolemy subjected visual perception to empirical analysis
is remarkable when contrasted with other Greek writers on optics. For example, Hero of
Alexandria (mid-1st century CE) asserted, purely for philosophical reasons, that an object and its
mirror image must make equal angles to a mirror. In contrast, Ptolemy established this principle
by measuring angles of incidence and reflection for planar and curved mirrors set upon a disk
graduated in degrees. Ptolemy also measured how lines of sight are refracted at the boundary
between materials of different density, such as air, water, and glass, although he failed to
discover the exact law relating the angles of incidence and refraction.

Geographer
Ptolemys fame as a geographer is hardly less than his fame as an
astronomer. Gegraphik hyphgsis (Guide to Geography) provided all

the information and techniques required to draw maps of the portion of the world known
by Ptolemys contemporaries. By his own admission, Ptolemy did not attempt to collect
and sift all the geographical data on which his maps were based. Instead, he based
them on the maps and writings of Marinus of Tyre (c. 100 CE), only selectively
introducing more current information, chiefly concerning the Asian and African coasts of
the Indian Ocean. Nothing would be known about Marinus if Ptolemy had not preserved
the substance of his cartographical work.

Ptolemys most important geographical innovation was to record longitudes and

latitudes in degrees for roughly 8,000 locations on his world map, making it possible to
make an exact duplicate of his map. Hence, we possess a clear and detailed image of
the inhabited world as it was known to a resident of the Roman Empire at its heighta
world that extended from theShetland Islands in the north to the sources of the Nile in
the south, from the Canary Islands in the west to China and Southeast Asia in the east.
Ptolemys map is seriously distorted in size and orientation compared to modern maps,
a reflection of the incomplete and inaccurate descriptions of road systems and trade
routes at his disposal.
Ptolemy also devised two ways of drawing a grid of lines on a flat map to represent the
circles of latitude and longitude on the globe. His grid gives a visual impression of
Earths spherical surface and also, to a limited extent, preserves the proportionality of
distances. The more sophisticated of these map projections, using circular arcs to
represent both parallels and meridians, anticipated later area-preserving projections.
Ptolemys geographical work was almost unknown in Europe until about 1300, when
Byzantine scholars began producing many manuscript copies, several of them
illustrated with expert reconstructions of Ptolemys maps. The Italian Jacopo dAngelo
translated the work into Latin in 1406. The numerous Latin manuscripts and early print
editions of Ptolemys Guide to Geography, most of them accompanied by maps, attest
to the profound impression this work made upon its rediscovery.

3.MUHAMMAD IBN MUHAMMAD AL-FULLANI AL-KISHWANI

GREAT AFRICAN MATHEMATICIAN IN THE EARLY 1700's
The history of mathematics in the world cannot be full without metioning the great contribution
of the early black mathematician especially those from the medieval black Africans. Among
these African mathematicians was Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Fullani al-Kishwani. Unlike
the 18th century Ghanaian Wilhem Anton Amoo, the great philosopher who worked and live in
Europe, al-Fullani al-kishwani spent all his life and career in the Middle East.He was a ma of
many talents. He was mathematician, astronomer, mystic and astrologer. He was a Fulani and the
Fulanis were the first people to convert to Islam. He traveled to Egypt and in 1732 he wrote a
mathematical scholarly manuscript (in Arabic) of procedures for constructing magic squares up
to the order 11.
Muhammad is noted for saying work in secret and for saying Do not give up, for that is
ignorance and not according to the rules of this art. Those who know the arts of war and killing
cannot imagine the agony and pain of a practitioner of this honorable science. Like the lover, you
cannot hope to achieve success without infinite perseverance.Muhammad died in Cairo in 1741

Ancient fulani farmers

Some historians believe the Fulani emerged from a prehistoric pastoral group that originated in
the upper Nile region around 3500 B.C. As the climate of the Sahara grew increasingly harsh,
population pressures drove them to migrate slowly west and south in search of better grazing
lands. By the eleventh century the Fulani emerged as a distinct people group in the Sngambia
Valley. Over the next 400 years they journeyed back east, but south of the Sahara, which had
become an inhospitable desert.
Traditionally most Fulani are shepherds or cattle herders, but over time some settled down and,
by the nineteenth century, had established a series of kingdoms between Sngal and Cameroon.
The Fulani have myths about how the nomads and settled rulers emerged..

Muhammad: a Life in Math, Magic, and Religion.

Have you ever wondered how mathematics, magic, and religion are all connected? Look no
further than the work of Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Fullani al-Kishnawi, of Katsina (now
Nigeria). Although not much is known about Muhammads life, what we do have are his quotes
and written words that reveal to us what type of person and mathematician he became. We also
know what type of math Muhammad worked on through the reading of Africa Counts.
There is still debate as to what year Muhammad was born, however, we do know that his time
was spent creating a new way to develop magic squares and completing the five pillars of
Islam. His multi talents as an astronomer, mathematician, mystic, and astrologer helped him
during his prolific career. As a member of the Fulani people, he was one of the first groups to be
converted to Islam. The Fulani people have a history as nomadic herders and traders; they also
have made an impact on politics and economics throughout West Africa. Additionally, the Fulani
people are very independent and competitive. They have used Islam as well as their competitive
spirit to acquisition new lands around present day Nigeria.
Because of Muhammads faith, he spent a large portion of his life in the Middle East completing
his duties as a devoted Muslim. It is because of this devotion to Islam, that he is recorded as
saying, work in secret and privacy. The letters are in Gods safekeeping. Gods power is in his
names and his secrets, and if you enter his treasury you are in Gods privacy, and you should not
spread Gods secrets indiscriminately. This quote from Muhammad clearly symbolizes the first
pillar of Islam by stating that any inspiration that is given to you by God, stays between you and
God until another is found worthy of this inspiration. This leads us to the conclusion that
Muhammad worked independently and led his students to do the same. After completing the
fifth pillar of Islam, which is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Muhammad traveled to Egypt. While
there, in 1732, he wrote a manuscript in Arabic about how to complete magic squares of up to an
order of eleven. Unfortunately, Muhammad ibn Muhammad died in Cairo in 1741 before
returning to Katsina.
Does it bother you when you believe you have mastered a concept only to discover you
have not even come close? Do not worry because some things are not always the way they
appear. In the words of Muhammad, Do not give up, for that is ignorance and not according to
the rules of this art. Those who know the arts of war and killing cannot imagine the agony and
pain of a practitioner of this honorable science. Like the lover, you cannot hope to achieve
success without infinite perseverance. This quote describes the pain and suffering of someone
who does not live up to his full potential by giving up. Muhammads statement reveals to us the
quality of his work as a mathematician. He was not only devoted to the art of mathematics, but
Muhammad wanted his students to understand and join him in Gods privacy. This could not be
achieved without time and energy, devotion, and practice. Without a doubt, giving up is not an
option.

Curious as to what this has to do with math, magic, and religion? The answer goes back
centuries to a divine turtle Lo Shu in ancient China. On the back of this divine turtle, appeared
this configuration of numbers:

Notice anything magical about this square? Look closely and you will find that all rows, all
columns, and the two main diagonals sum to fifteen. This arrangement of numbers in which the
columns, rows, and main diagonals sum to the same number is known as magical squares. For
instance, the row consisting of four plus nine plus two is equal to the column of four plus three
plus eight, which is equal to the diagonal of two plus five plus eight. All of these sums are equal
to fifteen. The mysterious number fifteen is known as the magical constant. Muhammads work
in the mathematical arts consisted of developing a system to come up with higher order magical
squares. The order of a magic square is found by counting the number of rows and
columns. For example, the magic square that appeared on the divine turtle Lo Shu, above is of
order three. All magic squares have an odd order. The odd order is necessary because an even
order square does not comply with every property of a magic square. For example, one can have
an even order in which the columns and rows add to the same. However, the diagonals of the
square will not sum to the same magical constant. The numbers will repeat themselves, and in a
true magical square the numbers are used only once. The numbers used in a magic square can be
found by multiplying the number of rows by the number of columns. This is also the same as
squaring the order, which is found by counting the number of rows or columns. For instance, if
there is a three by three magic square, you will use numbers one through nine.
Muhammad came up with a formula to find the magical constant, the number that is the sum of
the rows, columns, and diagonals and a formula to find the middle square. The formula for
finding the magical constant is n(n^2 + 1)/2, where n is equal to the order of the magic
square. The second formula that Muhammad developed was
(n^2 + 1)/2. Once again, n is the order of the square and in this formula we can derive the
middle number.
Muhammads work on magic squares was a beginning to group theory. By group we
mean that a set of elements is closed, associative, contains an identity, and contains inverses for
each element. Muhammad noticed that you could perform certain operations such as reflection
about an axis or rotations of up to any degree and not change the properties of the square. This

meant that out of one simple square one could now generate a finite number of magic squares
and the properties would still hold true. For example, the following magic squares are the same
square as above reflected about the x-axis and rotated ninety degrees.
8

This square is rotated about the

x-axis.

This square is rotated about an

Ninety-degree angle.

Muhammad proved that combinations of these two reflections are the dihedral group. In other
words these two reflections generate the rest of the group. In this case generate means that all
combinations of these two reflections produce a finite number of elements. There are eight
distant elements in this group. They include the identity and its inverse and the inverse of every
other element. This group is also associative and is closed under the compositions. Only the
square position is reflected, not the numbers. This is so you do not end-up with an E for a three.
Although Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Fullani al-Kishnawi was not a minority in either race
or religion in the western part of Africa, he was considered a minority because of his career as a
mathematician. Also in the mathematical world he was one of the few who were not AngloSaxon or Christian. Ideas that included people of African decent could not do mathematical
problems, and were intellectually inferior kept on in the minds of Anglo-Saxons until
recently. Despite this Muhammad never once gave up. He persevered through it all, never
giving in to the pressures of being a minority in both race and religion. Muhammad showed the
people of the time as well as today that no matter what race, ethnicity, or religion, you should not
let this stand in the way of what you want to do with your life. If Muhammad had let the issues
of multiculturalism get in the way he would have never developed the mathematical formulas
and concepts of group theory that are still used hundreds of years later.

4.Hypatia

hypatia, (born c. 355 CEdied March

415, Alexandria), Egyptian mathematician,astronomer, and philosopher who lived in a
very turbulent era in Alexandrias history. She is the earliest female mathematician of
whose life and work reasonably detailed knowledge exists.

Hypatia was the daughter of Theon of Alexandria, himself a mathematician and

astronomer and the last attested member of the Alexandrian Museum. Theon is best
remembered for the part he played in the preservation of Euclids Elements, but he also
wrote extensively, commenting on Ptolemys Almagest and Handy Tables. Hypatia
continued his program, which was essentially a determined effort to preserve the Greek
mathematical and astronomical heritage in extremely difficult times. She is credited with
commentaries on Apollonius of Pergas Conics(geometry) and Diophantus of
Alexandrias Arithmetic (number theory), as well as an astronomical table (possibly a
revised version of Book III of her fathers commentary on the Almagest). These works,
the only ones she is listed as having written, have been lost, although there have been
attempts to reconstruct aspects of them. In producing her commentaries on Apollonius
and Diophantus, she was pushing the program initiated by her father into more recent
and more difficult areas.
She was, in her time, the worlds leading mathematician and astronomer, the only
woman for whom such claim can be made. She was also a popular teacher and lecturer
on philosophical topics of a less-specialist nature, attracting many loyal students and
large audiences. Her philosophy was Neoplatonist and was thus seen as pagan at a
time of bitter religious conflict between Christians (both orthodox and heretical), Jews,
and pagans. Her Neoplatonism was concerned with the approach to the One, an
underlying reality partially accessible via the human power of abstraction from
the Platonic forms, themselves abstractions from the world of everyday reality. Her
philosophy also led her to embrace a life of dedicated virginity.
An early manifestation of the religious divide of the time was the razing of theSerapeum,
the temple of the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis, by Theophilus, Alexandrias bishop until
his death in 412 CE. This event was perhaps the final end of the great Library of
Alexandria, since the Serapeum may have contained some of the Librarys books.
Theophilus, however, was friendly with Synesius, an ardent admirer and pupil of
Hypatia, so she was not herself affected by this development but was permitted to
pursue her intellectual endeavours unimpeded. With the deaths of Synesius and
Theophilus and the accession of Cyril to the bishopric of Alexandria, however, this
climate of tolerance lapsed, and shortly afterward Hypatia became the victim of a
particularly brutal murder at the hands of a gang of Christian zealots. It remains a matter
of vigorous debate how much the guilt of this atrocity is Cyrils, but the affair made

Hypatia a powerful feminist symbol and a figure of affirmation for intellectual endeavour
in the face of ignorant prejudice. Her intellectual accomplishments alone were quite
sufficient to merit the preservation and respect of her name, but sadly, the manner of
her death added to it an even greater emphasis.

Hypatia of Alexandria was the first woman to make a substantial contribution to the
development of mathematics.
Hypatia was the daughter of the mathematician and philosopher Theon of Alexandria
and it is fairly certain that she studied mathematics under the guidance and instruction
of her father. It is rather remarkable that Hypatia became head of the Platonist school
at Alexandria in about 400 AD. There she lectured on mathematics and philosophy, in
particular teaching the philosophy of Neoplatonism. Hypatia based her teachings on
those of Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism, and Iamblichus who was a developer
of Neoplatonism around 300 AD.
Plotinus taught that there is an ultimate reality which is beyond the reach of thought or
language. The object of life was to aim at this ultimate reality which could never be
precisely described. Plotinus stressed that people did not have the mental capacity to
fully understand both the ultimate reality itself or the consequences of its existence.
Iamblichus distinguished further levels of reality in a hierarchy of levels beneath the
ultimate reality. There was a level of reality corresponding to every distinct thought of
which the human mind was capable. Hypatia taught these philosophical ideas with a
greater scientific emphasis than earlier followers of Neoplatonism. She is described by
all commentators as a charismatic teacher.
Hypatia came to symbolise learning and science which the early Christians identified
with paganism. However, among the pupils who she taught in Alexandria there were
many prominent Christians. One of the most famous is Synesius of Cyrene who was
later to become the Bishop of Ptolemais. Many of the letters that Synesius wrote to
Hypatia have been preserved and we see someone who was filled with admiration and
reverence for Hypatia's learning and scientific abilities.
In 412 Cyril (later St Cyril) became patriarch of Alexandria. However the Roman
prefect of Alexandria was Orestes and Cyril and Orestes became bitter political rivals
as church and state fought for control. Hypatia was a friend of Orestes and this,
together with prejudice against her philosophical views which were seen by Christians
to be pagan, led to Hypatia becoming the focal point of riots between Christians and
non-Christians. Hypatia, Heath writes, [4]:-

... by her eloquence and authority ... attained such influence that Christianity
considered itself threatened ...
A few years later, according to one report, Hypatia was brutally murdered by the
Nitrian monks who were a fanatical sect of Christians who were supporters of Cyril.
According to another account (bySocrates Scholasticus) she was killed by an
Alexandrian mob under the leadership of the reader Peter. What certainly seems
indisputable is that she was murdered by Christians who felt threatened by her
scholarship, learning, and depth of scientific knowledge. This event seems to be a
turning point as described in [2]:Whatever the precise motivation for the murder, the departure soon afterward of many
scholars marked the beginning of the decline of Alexandria as a major centre of
ancient learning.
There is no evidence that Hypatia undertook original mathematical research. However
she assisted her father Theon of Alexandria in writing his eleven part commentary
on Ptolemy's Almagest. It is also thought that she also assisted her father in producing
a new version of Euclid's Elements which has become the basis for all later editions
of Euclid. Heath writes of Theon and Hypatia's edition of theElements [4]:.. while making only inconsiderable additions to the content of the "Elements", he
endeavoured to remove difficulties that might be felt by learners in studying the book,
as a modern editor might do in editing a classical text-book for use in schools; and
there is no doubt that his edition was approved by his pupils at Alexandria for whom
it was written, as well as by later Greeks who used it almost exclusively...
In addition to the joint work with her father, we are informed by Suidas that Hypatia
wrote commentaries on Diophantus's Arithmetica, on Apollonius's Conics and
on Ptolemy's astronomical works. The passage in Suidas is far from clear and most
historians doubt that Hypatia wrote any commentaries on Ptolemy other than the
works which she composed jointly with her father.
All Hypatia's work is lost except for its titles and some references to it. However no
purely philosophical work is known, only work in mathematics and astronomy. Based
on this small amount of evidence Deakin, in [8] and [9], argues that Hypatia was an
excellent compiler, editor, and preserver of earlier mathematical works.
As mentioned above, some letters of Synesius to Hypatia exist. These ask her advice
on the construction of an astrolabe and a hydroscope.

Charles Kingsley (best known as the author of The Water Babies) made her the
heroine of one of his novels Hypatia, or New Foes with an Old Face. As Kramer
writes in [1]:Such works have perpetuated the legend that she was not only intellectual but also
beautiful, eloquent, and modest.

http://www.sheisanastronomer.org/index.php/history/hypatia-of-alexandria

https://faithljustice.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/hypatia-mathematician-or-teacher/

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

A Urine Powered Generator

Possibly one of the more unexpected products at Maker Faire Africa this year in Lagos is a urine
powered generator, created by four girls. The girls are Duro-Aina Adebola (14), Akindele Abiola (14),
Faleke Oluwatoyin (14) and Bello Eniola (15).
1 Liter of urine gives you 6 hours of electricity.

The system works like this:

Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which separates out the hydrogen.

The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which then gets pushed into the gas
cylinder.

The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which is used to remove the
moisture from the hydrogen gas.

This purified hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator.

Along the whole way there are one-way valves for security, but lets be honest that this is something
of an explosive device

Four teenage girls figured out a way to use a liter of urine

as fuel to get six hours of electricity from their generator.
Fourteen-year-olds Duro-Aina Adebola, Akindele Abiola,
and Faleke Oluwatoyin, and 15-year-old Bello Eniola
displayed their invention this week at Maker Faire Africa
in Lagos, Nigeria, an annual event meant to showcase
ingenuity.

Heres how the urine-powered generator works, as

explained by the blog on
themakerfaireafrica.com website:
Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which separates out
the hydrogen.
The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification,
and then into a gas cylinder, which looks similar to the
kind used for outdoor barbecue grills.
The gas cylinder pushes the filtered hydrogen into
another cylinder that contains liquid borax, in order to
remove moisture from the gas. Borax is a natural
mineral, commonly used in laundry detergent.
The hydrogen is pushed into a power generator in the
final step of the process.
A big drawback is that hydrogen poses an explosion risk.
But the girls used one-way valves throughout the device
as a safety measure.
The idea of using urine as fuel is not new. The girls have
come up with a practical way to put the idea into action,
though. Their method for using urine to power a
generator is one the average household can appreciate.
Power generators are used far more often in Africa than
here, where they are relegated more to emergency use, as
in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The Maker Faire
Africa blog says power outages happen multiple times a
day in Lagos, so all those who can afford a backup
generator have one.
Still, technology needs to evolve further before such a
system is feasible, at least as far as applications like
powering generators go.

Gerardine Botte, a professor of chemical and

biomolecular engineering at Ohio University, is among
those working on practical ways to make urine into a
more useful hydrogen source, essentially by turning
power into a byproduct of wastewater treatment. She
says it takes more energy to extract hydrogen from urine
than you end up getting in return as electricity. The
energy equation gets even more skewed by the
inefficiency of the generator used in the girls project.
At first glance, theyre not having a net gain in energy,
Botte says. But I think its important to say that these
little girls, trying to do something like this, deserve a lot
of credit.
The idea behind the humble urine-powered generator is
along the lines of Bottes own thinking, and her research
is all about efficient ways to break urine down into its
useful components.
Bottes approach is to use electrolysis of urea as a method
of wastewater treatment. She says her process for
converting urine into potable water is more cost effective
and more energy efficient than current wastewater
treatment methods. Pure hydrogen is produced as a
byproduct and can be used in generating electricity.
You cannot get net energy gain, but there is no more
efficient way to get clean water from urine, Botte says.
Botte founded E3 Clean Technologies in 2011 to work on
scaling the process for use by municipalities and others.
The U.S. Department of Defense is trying out a portable
system from E3 at military bases in remote areas, as both
a way to treat wastewater and generate power. The

system, which Botte calls GreenBox technology, converts

a soldiers urine into drinking water.
At forward operating bases, the main needs are water
and fuel, Botte says. With this project, theyre doing
both: using less energy to reutilize water sources.
So, when put in the context of wastewater treatment, the
concept of using urine as a hydrogen source to produce
energy has great potential.
Since wastewater treatment plants already collect the raw
material needed urine extracting hydrogen from it
makes sense, Botte says. Doing so could regain some of
the vast amounts of energy already being spent all over
the world to treat waste.
You will never get more energy out than you put in, she
says. But it is a unique and elegant way to treat urine
waste, which will allow you to co-generate electricity.
To give you a sense of how much energy it is possible to
recapture from this method of treating urine, Botte offers
this:
At Ohio University, where there are about 22,000
students, if we would collect the urine and produce
hydrogen, we would be able to produce enough electricity
to perhaps power about 100 to 150 residential houses for
a year, continuously.
Consider that before you dismiss what the enterprising
teens did with their own project.
Maybe, as the technology evolves, it could be applied to
vehicles someday. Gasoline-powered internal
combustion engines can be converted relatively easily to

run on hydrogen, which raises the question of whether

there is potential for pee-powered cars in the future.

Mohammed Bah Abba

Ancient Technology Preserves Food

The art of pottery is deeply rooted in African culture. In northern Nigeria, earthenware
pots have been used since ancient times as cooking and water storage vessels, coffins,
wardrobes and banks. Today, these clay pots are almost extinct, replaced by aluminium
containers and more modern methods of burying the dead, storing clothes and saving
money.
Born in 1964 into a family of pot makers and raised in the rural north, Mohammed Bah
Abba was familiar from an early age with the various practical and symbolic uses of
traditional clay pots, and learned as a child the rudiments of pottery. Subsequently
studying biology, chemistry and geology at school, he unravelled the technical puzzle
that led him years later to develop the "pot-in-pot preservation/cooling system".
He was selected as a Rolex Laureate in 2000 for this ingenious technique that requires
no external energy supply to preserve fruit, vegetables and other perishables in hot,
arid climates. The pot-in-pot cooling system, a kind of "desert refrigerator", helps
subsistence farmers by reducing food spoilage and waste and thus increasing their
income and limiting the health hazards of decaying foods. Abba says he developed the
pot-in-pot "to help the rural poor in a cost-effective, participatory and sustainable way".
The pot-in-pot consists of two earthenware pots of different diameters, one placed

inside the other. The space between the two pots is filled with wet sand that is kept
constantly moist, thereby keeping both pots damp. Fruit, vegetables and other items
such as soft drinks are put in the smaller inner pot, which is covered with a damp cloth.
The phenomenon that occurs is based on a simple principle of physics: the water
contained in the sand between the two pots evaporates towards the outer surface of the
larger pot where the drier outside air is circulating. By virtue of the laws of
thermodynamics, the evaporation process automatically causes a drop in temperature
of several degrees, cooling the inner container, destroying harmful micro-organisms and
preserving the perishable foods inside.
Universal Technique

The principle of physics used by the pot-in-pot is present in nature itself. A panting dog,
for example, uses the same process, losing heat through its tongue. It is also well known
by humans in arid countries. Indeed, the roots of innovation spread wide and deep, and
Abbas pot-in-pot is one of several ingenious applications of cooling by evaporation.
The city of Qena in Upper Egypt is renowned for its porous-clay cooling vessels a
tradition spanning more than three millennia. In Burkina Faso, the Jula peoples
traditional jars are sometimes soaked in water before goods are stored in them, so that
they stay cool by evaporation. This single-pot design is similar to the pot-in-pot, but less
efficient.
In India, street vendors often cool fruit or drinks for their customers by suspending bags
of produce in a porous clay container. Also in India, a rectangular enclosure of wet bricks
is used to preserve foodstuffs from heat. Water seeps slowly through the porous bricks,
evaporating from the surface and keeping the entire structure cool. The Punjab
Agricultural University in Ludhiana has recently tested an improved version of this
system, which is closer to the pot-in-pot than any other device. It uses double-brick
walls, with wet sand between them. The sand is kept wet, and the entire chamber is
covered with a moist mat. Fruit and vegetables inside the chamber are maintained at
temperatures below 20 C.
In 1992, laboratory experiments to measure the temperature drop in a two-pot design,
where a small clay receptacle is placed within another receptacle filled with water, were
carried out at the University of Benin City by Nigerian professor Victor Aimiuwu. He
found that the device had good cooling properties, remaining up to 14 degrees cooler
than the surrounding environment.

Theory into Practice

Still, among all the similar devices and traditional cooling pots, there is nothing quite
like the pot-in-pot with its unique combination of simplicity and effectiveness. In fact,
the Nigerian teachers project shows how, for the Rolex Awards, originality is far more
than a bright idea it means turning an inspiration into a concrete achievement with a
major impact.
"Mohammed Bah Abba won a Rolex Award not simply because he designed the pot-inpot. He overcame obstacles to produce and distribute it, and also ensured that it could
be bought for an affordable price by the people who need it," says Rebecca Irvin, head
of the Rolex Awards Secretariat in Geneva.
To understand the relevance of Abbas Rolex Award-winning project, it is necessary to
look at the geography of northern Nigeria and the restricted lives led by the people. This
region is primarily a semi-desert scrubland inhabited by a large, mostly agriculturebased population, the majority of who live in abject poverty. Polygamy is a dominant
feature of the family structure and women living in purdah are confined to their homes
and seriously disadvantaged in terms of health care, education and employment
opportunities. Young girls are particularly enslaved because they are forced to go out
each day and rapidly sell food that would otherwise perish, in order to add to the
meagre family income.
A key reason for the pot-in-pots success is the lack of electricity in most of the northern
rural communities, for without electricity there can be no refrigeration. Even in towns
and cities the power supply is erratic. Most of the urban poor cannot even afford
refrigerators.
Personal Inspiration

In a developing nation facing severe communication, transport and utility problems,

Abba set out to try and help improve the ailing economy. He became a lecturer in
business studies at Jigawa State Polytechnic in Dutse in 1990. When not teaching, Abba
serves as a consultant to the regional United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
in Jigawa, organising community activities and giving seminars. A staunch supporter of
womens rights, he is also a consultant with the states Ministry for Women Affairs and
Social Mobilization.

These consultancies brought Abba in close contact with rural communities, where he
observed the extreme hardships suffered by subsistence farmers and their families.
"Through these observations, I became motivated to revitalise earthen pot usage and
extend the life of perishable foods," he explains.
Abbas first trials of the pot-in-pot proved successful. Eggplants, for example, stayed
fresh for 27 days instead of three, and tomatoes and peppers lasted for three weeks or
more. African spinach, which usually spoils after a day, remained edible after 12 days in
the pot-in-pot.
The enterprising teacher persistently refined his invention for two years between 1995
and 1997. He then tapped into the large unemployed local workforce and hired skilled
pot makers to mass produce the first batch of 5,000 pot-in-pots. Manufacturing these
devices at his own expense, he began distributing them for free to five villages in
Jigawa. For this initial phase of his project, he received limited financial backing from his
brother and assistance in the form of transportation, fuel and labour from the UNDP, the
regional government, a local womens development group and the Jigawa State
Polytechnic.
In 1999, Abba supplied another dozen local villages with 7,000 pots, again at his
expense. Sold for between US$2 for the smaller pot-in-pots and US$4 for the bigger
version, the pot-in-pot stays affordable, while the proceeds from sales help finance
manufacturing and distribution costs.
Lesson for Villagers

However, one of the biggest obstacles faced by the project was educating the villagers
about this simple technology. Abba devised an educational campaign tailored to village
life and the illiterate population, featuring a video-recorded play by local actors who
dramatise the benefits of the desert refrigerator. Abba began showing the video in
villages using a makeshift cloth screen and a portable projector and generator. "Nightfall
is best," he comments, "because this is when farmers head home and are keen to watch
an entertaining presentation."
Thanks to a "very timely" Rolex Award, Abba has been able to distribute pot-in-pots in
11 northern Nigerian states, and further his expansion plans in other countries such as
Cameroon, Niger, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2002, with Abbas approval, the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG)
and the University of Al Fashir carried out experiments in Sudan to assess the
performances of the pot-in-pot in food conservation. The excellent results led the
Womens Association for Earthenware Manufacturing in Darfur to manufacture their own
pot-in-pots, called zeer in Arabic.
As of early 2005, Abba had distributed a total of 91,795 pot-in-pots. "My life has greatly
changed since receiving the Rolex Award," he says.
And the future is bright. The Nigerian Laureate has been asked to help introduce and
adapt his cooling device in Eritrea, where it could preserve insulin vials for diabetic
patients in remote rural areas, as well as in India, Haiti and Honduras.
Transforming Rural Life

The impact of the pot-in-pot on individuals lives is overwhelming. "Farmers are now
able to sell on demand rather than rush sell because of spoilage," says Abba, "and
income levels have noticeably risen. Married women also have an important stake in the
process, as they can sell food from their homes and overcome their age-old dependency
on their husbands as the sole providers." In turn and, perhaps most significantly for the
advancement of the female population, Abbas invention liberates girls from having to
hawk food each day. Instead, they are now free to attend school and the number of girls
enrolling in village primary schools is rising.
These factors, coupled with the effect that the pot-in-pot has had in stemming disease,
are, in Abbas words, making "the pot-in-pot a tangible and exciting solution to a severe
local problem".
Well known for his dedication, Abba is also praised for his concern with the social and
economic development of his fellow Nigerians. "Mr Abba cares for the progress of
society in general," says Mrs Hadiza Abdulwahab, president of the local Society for
Women Empowerment and Development.
The permanent secretary of the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Mobilization,
Mrs Rabi Umar, agrees. She believes that Abba has been "selfless and tireless" in his
efforts to make his project succeed. Summing up his work, she says: "The pot-in-pot
project is the first to use simple cultural solutions to address the primary needs of the

rural northern Nigerian population, for whom the basic necessities of life are nearly nonexistent."
Published in 2005

- See more at:

http://www.rolexawards.com/profiles/laureates/mohammed_bah_abba/project#sthash.9zNxpVxY.dpuf

https://www.ashoka.org/fellow/mohammed-bah-abba

IMPORTANT THINGS FOR AFRICAN PROJECT

Bow and arrow, a weapon consisting of a stave made of wood or other elastic material,
bent and held in tension by a string. The arrow, a thin wooden shaft with a feathered tail,
is fitted to the string by a notch in the end of the shaft and is drawn back until sufficient
tension is produced in the bow so that when released it will propel the
arrow. Arrowheads have been made of shaped flint, stone, metal, and other hard
materials.
The origins of the bow and arrow are prehistoric; bone arrow points dating to 61,000
years ago have been found at Sibudu Cave in South Africa. The bow served as a
primary military weapon from ancient times through the Middle Ages in the
Mediterranean world and Europe and for an even longer period in China, Japan, and on
the Eurasian steppes. In the climax of Homers Odyssey, Odysseus prowess with the
bow is decisive in his combat with Penelopes suitors. In the Old Testament, Ahabs
death is the result of an enemy arrow that struck the king of Israel between the joints of
harness.
The armoured infantry of Greece and Rome generally disdained the bow but were
nevertheless often beset by skillful enemy archers, especially those mounted on

horseback. The Huns, Seljuq Turks, Mongols, and other peoples of the Eurasian
steppes were particularly effective mounted archers, wielding powerful composite
recurved bows made of thin laths of wood stiffened at the rear with strips of horn and
strengthened at the front with glued-on layers of cattle sinew. Incredibly powerful, these
were the most formidable missile weapons of mounted combat until the revolving pistol.
In Europe it was the development of thecrossbow, which had been known in ancient
times but was perfected in the Middle Ages, and the English longbow, introduced to
European battlefields in the 14th century, that made the arrow a formidable battlefield
missile. The longbow, which seems to have originated in Wales, was as tall as a man
and the arrow about half that length, the famous cloth-yard shaft. The bow was held
with outstretched arm and the arrow drawn back to the bowmans ear. An English archer
could shoot six aimed shots a minute, and his effective range was about 200 yards,
though an arrow could go twice as far in the right hands. The crossbow, in contrast, did
not require the same physique or training. The crossbow consisted of a short bow
mounted horizontally on a stock or tiller, with a sear and trigger to hold the string in
drawn position, to be released on demand. Less accurate than the longbow
orcomposite bow in skilled hands, crossbows were highly effective at short and medium
range.
For many cultures, the bows importance in warfare has been secondary to its value as
a hunting weapon. The North American Indians, the Eskimo, many African peoples, and
others used either the regular bow or the crossbow in both hunting and war. Some
ancient Japanese wooden bows are 8 feet (2.44 m) in length; the Japanese also made
smaller bows of horn or whalebone. Japanese bows and quivers (for holding the
arrows) were often elaborately decorated and signed by the craftsman. The natives of
the Andaman Islands, between the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, produced very
large and broad bows. African bow makers generally produced small bows, partly
because ranges in the African jungle were usually short. The Eskimo used composite
bows of wood and bone backed by sinew, similar to most bows made in Asia. The
American Indians bows were made either of wood or of wood backed by sinew. Bows
have also been made of compositions of several materials, such as wood and horn or
wood and metal. Modern composite bows are made of laminated wood, plastic, or
fibreglass. Cable and pulleys on the modern compound bow increase accuracy and
power. Many sport hunters prefer the bow to firearms; others hunt with both weapons.

The string, too, may be made of a variety of materials, the requisite being
toughness. Bowstrings have exhibited an enormous range of variation in materials. The
English longbow of the Middle Ages usually had a string of linen or hemp, but Turkish
and Arab bows were strung with silk and mohair. Rattan, bamboo, vegetable fibre, and
animal sinew or hide have served in many parts of the world.
Arrows have exhibited even greater variations. Usually the shaft is a single piece, but
often two different materials, such as wood and metal, are combined; the arrowhead
of metal, stone, bone, or shellmay be affixed by socketing, cementing, or both.
Fletches of feathers or of substitutes (leaf, pieces of leather or fur) are nearly always
used to stabilize the arrow in flight; arrows with heavy
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/early-bow-and-arrows-offer-insight-into-origins-ofhuman-intellect-112922281/?no-ist

Hieroglyphic writing

Egyptian
Quick Facts
Type

Logophonetic

Genealogy

Egyptian

Location

Africa > Egypt

Time

3100 BCE to 400 CE

Direction

Variable

The Egyptian Hieroglyphs is among the old writing system in the world. Unlike its contemporary
cuneiform Sumerian, Egyptian Hieroglyph's origin is much more obscure. There is no identifiable
precursor. It was once thought that the origin of Egyptian Hieroglyphs are religious and historical, but
recent developments could point to an economical impetus for this script as well as push back the time
depth of this writing system.
How It Works
The Egyptian writing system is complex but relatively straightforward. The inventory of signs is divided
into three major categories, namely (1) logograms, signs that write out morphemes; (2) phonograms,
signs that represent one or more sounds); and (3) determinatives, signs that denote neither morpheme
nor sound but help with the meaning of a group of signs that precede them.
Examples of logograms:

Like Proto-Sinaitic-derived scripts, Egyptians wrote only with consonants. As a result, all phonograms
are uniconsonantal, biconsonantal, and triconsonantal.
The following are the uniconsonantals:

And a few biconsonantals and triconsonantals:

F.Y.I. - "Pronunciation" of Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Technically we don't know what vowels went in between the consonants of each sign. For convenience
(as it was very hard to pronounce a string of consonants without vowels in the middle of a lecture)
archaeologists made up a protocol of artificially putting vowels in hieroglyphs. A /e/ is placed between
consonants, /y/ is transcribed as /i/, /w/ became /u/, and /3/ and />/ are subsituted as /a/. For some
reason this system had taken a life of its own, and often now people actually think it is how Egyptian

words were pronounced. For example, the 19th Dynasty king R-mss is known as Ramses or Rameses
in modern day. However, the correct rendition of his name was probably Riamesesa, which was
discovered from cuneiform documents composed for diplomatic exchange between Mesopotamia and
Egypt.
For more information, refer to the Pronunciation of Ancient Egyptian.
The determinative is a glyph that carries no phonetic value but instead is added at the end of a word to
clarify the meaning of the word. This is due to the fact that the writing system does not record vowels,
and therefore different words with the same set of consonants (but different vowels) can be written by
the same sequence of glyphs. Therefore the determinative became necessary to disambiguate the
meaning of a sequence of glyphs.

Note: The logogram indicator is a determinative that marks a glyph as a logogram, as many logograms
can also double as phonograms (like the duck glyph /s3/).
Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, and Demotic
Traditionally Egyptologists divided Hieroglyphs into three types based on appearance: hieroglyphic,
hieratic, and demotic. Hieroglyphic is almost always inscribed on stones in large scale monuments.
Hieratic is the "priestly" script extensively used on manuscripts and paintings, and really is just a rather
cursive form of monumental hieroglyphics. And finally, demotic is a highly cursive script that replaced
hieratic as the script for everyday use from 600 BCE onward. In fact, some demotic signs translate into
more than one hieratic or hieroglyphic signs, so there isn't a one-to-one correspondence between
demotic and the other two systems.
As mentioned before, aside from the shape of the signs, the hieroglyphic and the hieratic systems are
virtually identical. In fact, Both of these variants date from the dawn of Egyptian civilization at the latter
half of the 3rd millenium BCE at a time period called the Predynastic period. Recently some new
discoveries have shed light on an ancient predynastic king named Scorpion I. His name has been found
carved in the wilderness ("King Scorpion: A Pretty Bad Dude"), and in his tomb in Abydos "Earliest
Egyptian Glyphs"). In fact, Abydos yielded a great number of inscribed seals dating from between 3400
and 3200 BCE, making them the oldest example of Egyptian writing.
Another early examples of hieroglyphic inscriptions is found on the famous Palette of Narmer. Narmer
was a very early king, although he does not appear on the traditional Egyptian king list (like the King List
of Abydos created during the reign of Seti I). However, according to the iconography on the Palette, he
already ruled over an unified Egypt around 3000 BCE as he wore both the crowns of Upper and Lower
Egypt. Many Egyptologists equate him with Menes, the first king of the first Dynasty, while others placed

him somewhat earlier in "Dynasty Zero" which might have also included pharoahs Scorpion II and Ka (or
Zekhen).

"Narmer"
There are two glyphs that make up Narmer's hieroglyphic name, which is enclosed by a serekh.
Theserekh, much like the cartouche later on, always denotes royal names. The top part of the name is a
catfish, and the lower part is a chisel. In Egyptian, catfish is /n>r/, and chisel is /mr/. Together they
spell /nrmr/. We vocalize this as Narmer, but in reality we don't really know what vowels existed between
the consonants in /nrmr/.
In addition to the monumental hieroglyphic, the cursive hieratic also date from as early as the reign of
king Ka in the form of pottery inscription. There were slightly later examples of this cursive script from the
reign of kings Aha and Den, both of the first Dynasty, but it was the 4th Dynasty that there are substantial
records written in hieratic.

While the hieroglyphic remained the same, the hieratic became increasingly cursive, and an increasing
amount of ligatures come into usage. Look at this comparison of hieroglyphic vs hieratic (from roughly
around 1200 BCE):

You could still see some resemblance between the first and the second row. However, you probably also
have noticed that groups of hieroglyphic signs are reduced to a single hieratic sign. Many of the most
frequently used sequences of signs were joined together into ligatures, much like sometimes we join 'a'
and 'e' as ''.

Eventually the most cursive form of hieratic became the demotic which gives no hint of its hieroglyphic
origin. By 600 BCE, the hieratic, which was used to write documents on papyri, was retained only for
religious writing. The demotic became the every-day script, used for accounting, writing down literature,
writings, etc. The following demotic inscription is from the famous Rosetta Stone. It bears no
resemblance whatsoever to the hieroglyphic script. In fact, it is so cursive that it resembles more like the
Aramaic scripts used around the Fertile Crescent at this time.

The last Egyptian inscription dates from the 5th century CE. By this time, Coptic, a Greek-based
alphabet with some demotic signs, became the primary writing system used in Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing

Egyptian Hieroglyphic Alphabet write your name like an Egyptian
In AD 391 the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I closed all pagan temples throughout the
empire. This action terminated a four thousand year old tradition and the message of

the ancient Egyptian language was lost for 1500 years. It was not until the discovery
of the Rosetta stone and the work of Jean-Francois Champollion (1790-1832) that the
Ancient Egyptians awoke from their long slumber. Today, by virtue of the vast quantity
of their literature, we know more about Egyptian society than most other ancient
cultures.

The script was developed about four thousand years before Christ and there was also
a decimal system of numeration up to a million.Unlike other cultures the early picture
forms were never discarded or simplified probably because they are so very lovely to
look at.
Hieroglyphs were called, by the Egyptians, the words of God and were used mainly
by the priests. These painstakingly drawn symbols were great for decorating the walls
of temples but for conducting day to day business there was another script, known as
hieratic This was a handwriting in which the picture signs were abbreviated to the
point of abstraction
Hieroglyphs are written in rows or columns and can be read from left to right or from
right to left. You can distinguish the direction in which the text is to be read because
the human or animal figures always face towards the beginning of the line. Also the
upper symbols are read before the lower.

Hieroglyphic signs are divided into four

categories:
1. Alphabetic signs represent a single sound. Unfortunately the Egyptians took most
vowels for granted and did not represent such as e or v. So we may never know
how the words were formed.
2. Syllabic signs represent a combination of two or three consonants.
3. Word-signs are pictures of objects used as the words for those objects. they are
followed by an upright stroke, to indicate that the word is complete in one sign.
4. A determinative is a picture of an object which helps the reader. For example; if a
word expressed an abstract idea, a picture of a roll of papyrus tied up and sealed was
included to show that the meaning of the word could be expressed in writing although
not pictorially.

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

More than 1000

glyphs including 400 Egyptian word examples and over 500 hieroglyphs from the
Gardiner list. The history of Egyptian writing and mathematics, the use of the
different types of symbols, how to write your name, how to recognize kings names
and the story of the scribe.
All content can be printed including typewriter and calculator functions. There are
also navagation and search text functions. You can quickly write names and short
secret messages and then select print from the menu.

http://www.crystalinks.com/hieroglyphicwriting.html

http://history-world.org/hieroglyphics.htm

Egyptian maths

Egyptian Mathematics Numbers Hieroglyphs

Egyptian Mathematics Numbers Hieroglyphs and Math

problems for kids
The ancient Egyptians were possibly the first civilisation to practice the
scientific arts. Indeed, the word chemistry is derived from the word Alchemy
which is the ancient name for Egypt. Where the Egyptians really excelled was
in medicine and applied mathematics. But although there is a large body of
papyrus literature describing their achievements in medicine, there are no
records of how they reached their mathematical conclusions. Of course they
must have had an advanced understanding of the subject because their
exploits in engineering, astronomy and administration would not have been
possible without it.

Hieroglyphic Numbers

The Egyptians had a decimal system using seven different symbols.

1 is shown by a single stroke.

10 is shown by a drawing of a hobble for cattle.
100 is represented by a coil of rope.
1,000 a drawing of a lotus plant.
10,000 is represented by a finger.
100,000 a tadpole or frog
1,000,000 figure of a god with arms raised above his head.

3,244 and 21,237

The conventions for reading and writing numbers is quite simple; the higher
number is always written in front of the lower number and where there is
more than one row of numbers the reader should start at the top.

hieroglyphic Fractions
All ancient Egyptian fractions, with the exception of 2/3, are unit fractions,
that is fractions with numerator 1.
For example 1/2, 1/7, 1/34.
Unit fractions are written additively:
1/4 1/26 means 1/4 + 1/26. and 1/4 + 1/28 = our 2/7.

The hieroglyph for R was used as the word part. For example:

Eye of Horus

In one of the ancient stories the god Seth attacked his brother the god Horus
and gouged out his eye and then tore it to pieces. Fortunately for Horus the
god Thoth was able to put the pieces back together and heal his eye.
In honour of this story the ancient Egyptians also used the pieces of Horuss
eye to describe fractions.

The right side of the eye = 1/2

The pupil = 1/4

The
The
The
The

eyebrow = 1/8
left side of the eye = 1/16
curved tail = 1/32
teardrop = 1/64

Math Using Hieroglyphs

This first math test is easy for for 10 11 year olds
1. Question 1 of 1
1. Question

Queen Hatshepsut has ordered her Nubian general, Nehsi, to sail to

the Land of Punt and obtain

planks of the finest
cut cedar wood for the gates and doors of her new temple.

Each ship can carry

planks of wood so how many ships will
Nehsi have to take with him to transport all the wood back to Egypt?

Ancient African Mathmatics

Africa is home to the world's earliest known use of measuring and calculation, confirming the continent as
the birthplace of both basic and advanced mathematics. Thousands of years ago, Africans were using
numerals, algebra and geometry in daily life. This knowledge spread throughout the entire world after a
series of migrations out of Africa, beginning around 30,000 BC, and later following a series of invasions of
Africa by Europeans and Asians (1700 BC-present).
Measuring and Counting

The world's oldest known measuring device, the "Lebombo bone

Lebombo Bone (35,000 BC)

The oldest mathematical instrument is the Lebombo bone, a baboon fibula used as a measuring device
and so named for its location of discovery in the Lebombo mountains of Swaziland. The device is at least
35,000 years old. Judging from its 29 distinct markings, it could have been used to either track menstrual
or lunar cycles, or used merely as a measuring stick.

It is rather interesting to note the significance of the 29 markings (roughly the same number as lunar
cycle, i.e., 29.531 days) on the baboon fibula because it is the oldest indication that the baboon, a primate
indigenous to Africa, was symbolically linked to Khonsu, who was also associated with time. The Kemetic
god, Djehuty ("Tehuti" or "Toth"), was later depicted as a baboon (also an ibis), and is usually associated
with the moon, math, writing and science. Use of baboon bones as mathematical devices has been
continuous throughout all of Africa, suggesting Africans always held the baboon as sacred and associated
with the moon, math, and time.

Front and rear of Ishango Bone in the Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels

Ishango Bone (20,000 BC)

The world's oldest evidence of advanced mathematics was also a baboon fibula that was discovered in
present-day Democratic Republic of Congo, and dates to at least 20,000 BC. The bone is now housed in
the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels. The Ishango bone is not merely a measuring device or tally
stick as some people erroneously suggest. The bone's inscriptions are clearly separated into clusters of
markings that represent various quantities. When the markings are counted, they are all odd numbers
with the left column containing all prime numbers between 10 and 20, and the right column containing
added and subtracted numbers. When both columns are calculated, they add up to 60 (nearly double the
length of the lunar or menstrual cycle).

A Gebet'a carving on the base of an Aksumite tekhen (stela), courtesty of Indech

Gebet'a or "Mancala" Game (700 BC-present)

Although the oldest known evidence of the ancient counting board game, Gebet'a or "Mancala" as it is
more popularly known, comes from Yeha (700 BC) in Ethiopia, it was probably used in Central Africa
many years prior. The game forces players to strategically capture a greater number of stones than one's
opponent. The game usually consists of a wooden board with 2 rows of 6 holes each, and 2 larger holes
at either end. However, in antiquity, the holes were more likely to be carved into stone, clay or mud like
Rwandans
playing
Omweso,
more advanced
the example from Medieval Aksum, shown at right. More advanced
versions
found
in aCentral
and version
East of
Gebet'a
Africa, such as the Omweso, Igisoro and Bao, usually involve 4 rows of 8 holes each.

Fractions, Algebra and Geometry

A copy of the so-called "Moscow" papyrus in "hieratic" text, with a clearer rendering below in "hieroglyphs".

"Moscow" Papyrus (2000 BC)

Housed in Moscow's Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the so-called "Moscow" papyrus, was
purchased by Vladimir Golenishchev sometime in the 1890s. Written in hieratic from perhaps the 13th
dynasty in Kemet, the papyrus is one of the world's oldest examples of use of geometry and algebra. The
document contains approximately 25 mathematical problems, including how to calculate the length of a
ship's rudder, the surface area of a basket, the volume of a frustum (a truncated pyramid), and various
ways of solving for unknowns.

"Rhind" Mathematical Papyrus (1650 BC)

Purchased by Alexander Rhind in 1858 AD, the so-called "Rhind" Mathematical Papyrus (shown below)
dates to approximately 1650 BC and is presently housed in the British Museum. Although some
Egyptologists link this to the foreign Hyksos, this text was found during excavations at the Ramesseum in
Waset (Thebes) in Southern Egypt, which never came under Hyksos' rule. Written by the scribe, Ahmose,
in the "Hieratic" script, the text reads as follows:
"Accurate reckoning for inquiring into things, and the knowledge of all things, mysteries...all secrets... This
book was copied in regnal year 33, month 4 of Akhet, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Awserre, given life, from an ancient copy made in the time of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt
Nimaatre. The scribe Ahmose writes this copy..."
The first page contains 20 arithmetic problems, including addition and multiplication of fractions, and 20
algebraic problems, including linear equations. The second page shows how to calculate the volume of
rectangular and cylindrical granaries, with pi () estimated at 3.1605. Tere are also calculations for the
area of triangles (slopes of a pyramid) and an octagon. The third page continues with 24 problems,
including the multiplication of algebraic fractions, among others.

A page from the so-called "Rhind" Mathematical Papyrus in "Hieratic" text.

Timbuktu Mathematical Manuscripts (1200s AD)

Timbuktu in Mali is home to one of the world's oldest universities, Sankore, which had libraries full of
manuscripts mainly written in Ajami (African languages, such as Hausa in this case, written in a script
similar to "Arabic") in the 1200s AD. When Europeans and Western Asians began visiting and colonizing
Mali from 1300s-1800s AD, Malians began to hide the manuscripts in basements, attics and underground,
fearing destruction or theft by foreigners. This was certainly a good idea, given Europeans' history of
stealing and/or destroying texts in Kemet and other areas of the continent. Many of the scripts, such as
the one shown below, were mathematical and astronomical in nature. In recent years, as many as
700,000 scripts have been rediscovered and attest to the continuous knowledge of advanced
mathematics and science in Africa well before European colonization.

A famous example of a mathematical and astronomical manuscript from medieval Timbuktu