Yang Hui
Southern Song mathematician known for Yang Hui's triangle, equivalent to Pascal's.
Chronology: 1238 – 1298
Origins & Early Life
Yang Hui (simplified Chinese: 杨辉; traditional Chinese: 楊輝; pinyin: Yáng Huī; ca. 1238–1298), courtesy name Qianguang (謙光), was a Chinese mathematician and writer of the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties. Originally, from Qiantang (modern-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang), Yang worked on magic squares, magic circles and the binomial theorem, and is best known for his contribution of presenting Yang Hui's triangle. This triangle was the same as Pascal's triangle, discovered by Yang's predecessor Jia Xian.
Pivotal Works & Achievements
Yang was also a contemporary of Qin Jiushao, another well-known Chinese mathematician. == Written work == The earliest extant Chinese illustration of 'Pascal's triangle' is from Yang's book Xiángjiě Jiǔzhāng Suànfǎ (詳解九章算法) of 1261 AD, in which Yang acknowledged that his method of finding square roots and cubic roots using "Yang Hui's triangle" was invented by mathematician Jia Xian who expounded it around 1100 AD, about 500 years before Pascal. His book (now lost), known as Rújī Shìsuǒ (如積釋鎖) or Piling-up Powers and Unlocking Coefficients, was known through his contemporary mathematician Liu Ruxie (劉汝諧). Jia described the method used as 'li cheng shi suo' (the tabulation system for unlocking...
Enduring Legacy & Impact
The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.
Source: Wikipedia