A Study On Book Of Measurements

The author of the Book of Measurements is Abraham Ibn Ezra. He is not only a famous Jewish philosopher, a linguist; but also an astrologer, a mathematician and a poet. He has a greatest influence in the commentaries to the Bible and Hebrew grammar. Ibn Ezra's main works is on the linguistics and commentaries to the Bible, the works about mathematics is less and is dispersed. People has studied Abraham Ibn Ezra's research on Combination, but the studies about his work on the Book of Measurements is rare and only appeared in foreign countries. As the information about his work was lacking, the study is a gap in our country at present. According to the background about the history of mathematical, basing on the studies of materials, using the methods of literature and comparative analysis, The paper researches theBook of Measurements. The main contributions are as follows:Firstly, liking up to the mathematical background of the Middle Ages in Europe, using the relevant documents and information in respect of the original conditions, the paper makes a complete translation from English to Chinese, and makes a classification about all kinds of knowledge.Secondly, explaining the important laws in the Book of Measurements and analyzing their origin. As lack of specific mathematical symbols, laws described in the Book of Measurements were all recorded in language, and no related algebraic reasoning to the process were refereed in this book. in order to more accurately understand the Book of Measurements and make a position to it, this paper analyzes the algebraic origin of the rules according to the principles in reconstructing the ancient proofs initiated by Mr. Wu Wen-jun.Thirdly, this paper makes a preliminary comparison between the mathematic ideas in the Book of Measurements and mathematics appeared in other early civilizations on the same issue. The purpose is to find the cue of the spread of mathematics in all civilizations.At last, this paper points out that the mathematic characteristics of the Book of Measurements. Furthermore, it makes a correction on errors of the rules appeared in its English version.