Project 5.6
Historical Quest
We mentioned that the Egyptians wrote their fractions as sums of unit fractions. Show that every positive fraction less than 1 can be written as a sum of unit fractions. Reference Bernhardt Wohlgemuth, “Egyptian Fractions,” Journal of Recreational Math, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1972), pp. 55-58.
Project 5.7
Historical Quest
The Egyptians had a very elaborate and well developed system for working with fractions. Write a paper on Egyptian fractions.
References:
George Berzsenyi, “Egyptian Fractions,” Quantum, November/December 1994, p. 45.
Follow up comment in The College Mathematics Journal, March 1995, p. 165.
Richard Gillings, Mathematics in the Time of the Pharaohs (New York: Dover Publications, 1982).
Spencer Hurd, “Egyptian Fractions: Ahmes to Fibonacci to Today,” Mathematics Teacher, October 1991, pp. 561-568.