Friday, February 02, 2007

Query re Al Ahram Weekly mathematics article

This page has a query from a reader of the Al Ahram weekly article Mathematics in Ancient Egypt by Assed Deif, which appeared in Al Ahram Weekly in the 25 - 31 January 2007 issue (No. 829): "In 'Mathematics in Ancient Egypt' ( Al-Ahram Weekly 25-31 January) Assem Deif emphasises the alignment with true north of the Great Pyramid, even contrasting it with a famous astronomical site in Paris. But because of precession and the angle of the axis of Earth to the plane of the ecliptic, over time "true north" changes, and is surely now just a few thousand years later, not precisely where it was at the time the Pyramid was built. How do you define directions for determinations of alignment in a situation like this?"
The question is accompanied by a reply from the author. See the above page.
The original article can be found at:

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