由建构与算理看戴震的《勾股割圜记》

戴震对中算的贡献,一向被认为只局限于算书的整理上,如校《九章算术》、恢复《算经十书》,等等。他的数学成就,常被批评为无足轻重。文章从学术建构的角度,来分析戴震的《勾股割圜记》,认为戴震著书的目的是希望由中算固有的性质中,创造出一个具文化传承且能与西方三角学匹敌的勾股割圆术。由此观点,戴书中许多被诟病之处,可得到合理的解释。另外,在研究戴震算学的文献中,很少谈到戴震对算理的强调。文章的另一目的是讨论算理在《勾股割圜记》中的重要性。戴震宣称割圜之法尽于勾股互权(相似直角三角形三边互求)。而在其书中勾股术的推导过程,除了图式,戴更明确地列出相似勾股形的对应边。无论是平面或是球面,戴的确是用该性质推导出所有的勾股术。

Re-examining Dai Zhen's Gougu geyuan ji in Terms of Construction and Mathematical Principles

The contribution of the 18th-century scholar,Dai Zhen,in traditional Chinese mathematics has always been thought to be limited in the discovery and collation of the lost Mathematics Classics such as collating and editing Jiuzhang suanshu.His mathematics treatise has been criticized as insignificant by scholars and historians since his time.This article analyzes,from the angle of constructing a mathematical system,Dai's trigonometric treatise,Gougu geyuan ji.In so doing,many often-criticized eccentricities i...