The more I learn, the more I keep coming bag to 3rd grade math class and of course, then quickly fast forwarding to 7th grade math class when basic geometry is being taught. The historic relevance of these ancient systems fascinates me; and I hope it does you too! As our future is being built on a foundation that comes from a such a rich cultural past, let's enjoy honoring the great ancients who set us forth on this illuminating journey!
Ancient Greeks:
The Greeks, particularly through the works of Euclid, Pythagoras, and Archimedes, contributed heavily to geometry. Euclid’s Elements laid out the foundations for geometry, where he systematized principles like lines, angles, circles, and triangles. Pythagoras’ theorem, as you know, relates the sides of a right triangle and is essential in calculating distances and projections in data space, just as we used it for your circle calculation earlier.
These geometric principles, particularly Euclidean Geometry, form the basis of modern machine learning algorithms, especially in the fields of linear algebra and vector spaces, which help us plot high-dimensional data (like the points on our circle and beyond).
Ancient Egyptians:
The Egyptians were practical geometers. They developed geometry for land surveying after the floods of the Nile, and it was essential in building their massive structures like the pyramids. They understood the importance of basic geometric principles, such as the right triangle (often seen in pyramid construction), and used simple ratios to maintain consistency in angles and measurements.
Their use of geometry was directly tied to their observations of natural cycles (like the flooding of the Nile), which is similar to the cyclical or patterned nature of data that we aim to capture in algorithms like Fourier transforms or time-series analysis in data science.
The Mayans:
The Mayans were highly advanced in mathematics and astronomy, developing a base-20 numeral system, which was ahead of its time. They also had sophisticated knowledge of astronomical cycles and were able to predict eclipses and planetary movements using their knowledge of geometry and mathematics. The Mayan calendar was incredibly precise, relying on cycles of celestial bodies.
Their mathematical principles helped in understanding cycles, periodicity, and harmonic motions, which also connect to modern data analysis, particularly in understanding cyclical patterns or periodic data in things like signal processing or clustering methods for understanding recurring events.
How this connects to our modern understanding:
In data science, we use geometric interpretations (like distances between data points in PCA) to reduce multi-dimensional data to something we can visualize and understand.
Clustering Algorithms(like K-Means or DBSCAN) are geometric at their core. When you cluster points, you’re essentially looking for patterns and distances between points, much like how the ancient Mayans looked for celestial cycles or the Egyptians used geometry for their structures.
In high-dimensional data, we often use techniques like PCA (Principal Component Analysis) to reduce the complexity, which is akin to creating simpler geometric representations of complex shapes. This is reminiscent of how the Greeks and Egyptians used simplified geometric shapes to solve real-world problems.
Like the Mayans, modern machine learning deals with patterns and cycles (think of time-series forecasting), using ancient knowledge about periodicity to predict and understand future behaviors.
The geometric principles of the Greeks give us the formal structure for modern data analysis, while the practical applications of the Egyptians show us how these tools can be used in real-world, cyclical processes. Finally, the Mayans’ understanding of cycles and time connects to our modern need to forecast, predict, and find patterns within vast sets of data. It has been our synergistic sharing of universal systems that had brought us to this greatest of times!
An estimate is unbiased if the average of the values of the estimates determined from all possible random samples equals the parameter you're trying to estimate.
Note: Insights supported by conversations with AI.
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