[Coral-List] Coral reefs and etnomathematics

[David Blakeway]

Hi Vassil,
I didn't know what ethnomathematics was so looked it up. A concise
definition is "the study and presentation of mathematical ideas of
traditional peoples" (Ascher 1991. Ethnomathematics: A Multicultural View
of Mathematical Ideas).
So that could get interesting with respect to reefs. Polynesian stick
charts for navigating between atolls seem quite mathematical, like a
Cartesian graph. And the layout of building foundations indicates an
understanding of rules for squaring things up, probably 'equal diagonals'.
All reef cultures would have a good understanding of cyclical time and
temporal patterns in reef biota. But I don't know of reef-specific
mathematical concepts. People must have wondered about the rules underlying
geometric patterns in corals and reefs... why are you asking, did you come
across something?
One sure thing is that most of this precious knowledge is gone. As one of
the early 19th century naturalists put it: "*...sunk in the sea of oblivion
just at the moment when they were placed into our hands*."