A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



mental efforts which the Egyptian was obliged to ap- 

 ply to smaller numbers. 



Despite his defective comprehension of fractions, 

 the Egyptian was able to work out problems of rela- 

 tive complexity; for example, he could determine the 

 answer of such a problem as this: a number together 

 with its fifth part makes 2 1 ; what is the number ? The 

 process by which the Egyptian solved this problem 

 seems very cumbersome to any one for whom a rudi- 

 mentary knowledge of algebra makes it simple, yet the 

 method which we employ differs only in that we are 

 enabled, thanks to our hypothetical x, to make a short 

 cut, and the essential fact must not be overlooked that 

 the Egyptian reached a correct solution of the prob- 

 lem. With all due desire to give credit, however, the 

 fact remains that the Egyptian was but a crude mathe- 

 matician. Here, as elsewhere, it is impossible to ad- 

 mire him for any high development of theoretical 

 science. First, last, and all the time, he was practical, 

 and there is nothing to show that the thought of science 

 for its own sake, for the mere love of knowing, ever 

 entered his head. 



In general, then, we must admit that the Egyptian 

 had not progressed far in the hard way of abstract 

 thinking. He worshipped everything about him be- 

 cause he feared the result of failing to do so. He em- 

 balmed the dead lest the spirit of the neglected one 

 might come to torment him. Eye-minded as he was, 

 he came to have an artistic sense, to love decorative 

 effects. But he let these always take precedence over 

 his sense of truth; as, for example, when he modified 

 his lists of kings at Abydos to fit the space which the 



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