Vipers

Vipers, Logs and All That

BY G. J. S. ROSS

IT IS widely believed that the only mathematician in the Bible was Noah. Nobody else would have had a hope of passing the Eleven Plus. Admittedly, Moses' Book of Numbers is frankly disappointing, but I hope to show in this article that the Bible contains evidence of a higher standard of mathematics than is generally supposed.

Arithmetic if, of course, mentioned most frequently, and we are told that men sometimes worshipped figures.¹ At a very early stage "men began to multiply,"² and Abraham was familiar with division.³ Some writers have pointed out that the arithmetic in Ezra⁴ is faulty, but this is explained where it reads "certain additions were made of thin work."⁵ The approximation for $\pi$ is reasonable,⁶ considering the fact that Moses destroyed the tables,⁷ which were not replaced until Solomon's time.⁸ Elsewhere we read "he shall not extract the root thereof,"⁹ and "we wrestle against powers."¹⁰

The first attempts at Geometry were, of course, Euclidean. We read that "great rulers were brought down,"¹¹ "from Syracuse they fetched a compass,"¹² and Noah constructed an arc¹³ and Ezekiel described a line.¹⁴ Further progress was made when they took axes,¹⁵ culminating in David's success with the calculus.¹⁶ David, incidentally, was the first to refuse to accept what he had not proved.¹⁷ St. Paul was familiar with four dimensions,¹⁸ and Joshua continued with the arc long a Jordan path.¹⁹

Algebra, although thought to be an invention of the Arabs, was only too familiar to the Jews. For instance, Moses gives instructions about a matrix²⁰ and Ezekiel knew enough about rings to describe them as "dreadful."²¹ Peter was kept half the night by four quaternions,²² and the Jews were described as "a generation seeking after a sign."²³

"As for the Pure, his work is right" said the writer of Proverbs,²⁴ and this attitude is reflected in the few existing references to Applied Mathematics. "I have seen thy abominations in the Fields" cried Jeremiah,²⁵ and the Psalmist complained "Thou hast afflicted me with all thy Waves."²⁶ Later the Father of Publius was "sick of the bloody Flux."²⁷

It is easy to understand why they disliked mathematics. Apart from the deacons "who purchase to themselves a good Degree,"²⁸ they had to be examined, as was St. Paul.²⁹ We know that Elisha passed,³⁰ and Solomon was able to answer all the questions,³¹ but Peter was much troubled when he saw the sheet,³² and Job cried "My kinsfolk have failed, and my friends."³³ Perhaps Johoiakim was an examiner, for "when he had read three or four pages he cast it into the fire."³⁴ As for St. John, all that he knew was "the Second woe is past, the Third cometh."³⁵

Eureka, 22.

¹ Acts vii. 43. ² Gen. vi. 1. ³ Gen. xv. 10. ⁴ Ezra ii. ⁵ 1 Kings vii. 29. ⁶ 2 Chron. iv. 2. ⁷ Exod. xxxii. 19. ⁸ 2 Chron. iv. 8. ⁹ Ezek. xvii. 9. ¹⁰ Eph. vi. 12. ¹¹ Ps. 136. 17. ¹² Acts xxviii. 13. ¹³ Gen. vi. (archaic spelling). ¹⁴ Ezek. xl. ¹⁵ 1 Sam. xiii. 21. ¹⁶ 1 Sam. xvii. ¹⁷ 1 Sam. xvii. 39. ¹⁸ Eph. iii. 18. ¹⁹ Joshua iii. ²⁰ Exod. xxxiv. 19. ²¹ Ezek. i. 18. ²² Acts xii. 4. ²³ Math. xvi. 4. ²⁴ Prov. xxi. 8. ²⁵ Jer. xiii. 27. ²⁶ Ps. 88. 7. ²⁷ Acts xxviii. 8. ²⁸ 1 Tim. iii. 13. ²⁹ Acts xxviii. 18. ³⁰ 2 Kings iv. 8. ³¹ 2 Chron. ix. 2. ³² Acts xi. ³³ Job xix. 14. ³⁴ Jer. xxxvi. 23. ³⁵ Rev. xi. 14.

Reproduced from Eureka 27 pages 34-35.