Ahmes

Ahmes (more accurately Ahmose) was an Egyptian scribe who lived during the Second Intermediate Period. A surviving work of Ahmes is part of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus now located in the British Museum (Newman, 1956). Ahmes states that he copied the papyrus from a now-lost Middle Kingdom original. The work is entitled directions for knowing all dark things and is a collection of problems in geometry and arithmetic. The problems are presented with solutions, but often with no hint as to how the solution was obtained.

Ahmes states without proof that a circular field with a diameter of 9 units is equal in area to a square with sides of 8 units (Beckman, 1971). In modern notation:

π(9/2)² = 8²

which leads to a value of pi equal to 3.16049...

References

• Beckman, Petr (1971). A History of PI. New York:St. Martin's Press.
• Newman, James R. (1956). The World of Mathematics; Volume 1.