Saltar navegación

Activa JavaScript para disfrutar de los vídeos de la Mediateca.

Indigenous Astronomers - Contenido educativo

Ajuste de pantalla

El ajuste de pantalla se aprecia al ver el vídeo en pantalla completa. Elige la presentación que más te guste:

Subido el 28 de mayo de 2007 por EducaMadrid

736 visualizaciones

Third segment of NASA Connect Ancient Observatories that shows two examples of how the Navajo used used structures to track progress of the sun in the sky.

Más información Transcripción

Descargar la transcripción

Thanks, Chen. Perhaps the greatest ancient astronomers were the Mayans, who lived right 00:00:00
here where I'm standing. The Mayans inhabited the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and Guatemala. 00:00:06
These people made astronomical and seasonal observations which rivaled anything seen in 00:00:13
Europe during the Roman Empire or the Dark Ages. These amazing people mapped the heavens, 00:00:17
they evolved the only true writing system native to the Americans, and they were masters 00:00:23
of mathematics. They invented calendars that are still accurate today. And without metal 00:00:28
tools, beasts of burden, or even the wheel, they were able to construct vast cities with 00:00:34
an amazing degree of architectural perfection and variety. The largest structure at this 00:00:39
site is El Castillo, the Castle. That these temple builders were mathematically precise 00:00:44
in their architectural designs is borne out by the natural phenomena which occurred during 00:00:50
the fall and spring equinoxes. In the spring, as the sun rises, the shadow cast on the steps 00:00:56
appear to form the body of a serpent which slithers down the stairs. Here at Chichen 00:01:03
Itza, there is a structure unlike anything else ever created by the ancient Mayans. It's 00:01:08
called El Caracol, and it actually looks like a modern observatory. Its design didn't function 00:01:12
the same way as our modern observatories. Instead, its walls contain many windows. Inside 00:01:19
the dome, stones could be removed, enabling the Mayan astronomers to observe different 00:01:25
parts of the sky. The Mayans looked at the sky differently from any other civilization. 00:01:30
Being near the equator, the equinox passages were easier and more accurate to determine 00:01:36
because the sun cast no shadow at local noon during this time. They also had great veneration 00:01:41
for the Milky Way. They called it the World Tree. The star clouds that formed the Milky 00:01:47
Way were seen as the Tree of Life, from which all life came. The Mayans also had their unique 00:01:53
constellations. Like today's zodiac, they had their scorpion. Gemini, which appears 00:02:00
to us as twins, however, was seen as a peccary, a nocturnal animal in the pig family. Other 00:02:05
zodiac symbols were a jaguar, a bat, a turtle, the tail of a rattlesnake, and a sea monster. 00:02:11
Because they looked at things differently, perhaps it's not surprising that the Mayans 00:02:19
had a different mathematics as well. We use a numbering system based on 10 digits, but 00:02:23
the Mayans used a system based on the number 20. Sounds a little bit complicated, but in 00:02:28
fact it was more efficient for counting than some of the older systems used in Europe a 00:02:33
long time ago. The Mayan counting system required only three symbols, a shell representing zero, 00:02:37
a dot representing a value of 1, a bar representing 5, and a shell with a dot representing the 00:02:45
base number 20. There are two advantages to the Mayan counting system. The first of these 00:02:52
is the idea of zero, which many civilizations at that time did not have. Second, they only 00:02:57
used three symbols to represent lower and higher numbers. In Rome, multiple symbols 00:03:03
were used. I for 1, V for 5, X for 10, L for 50, C for 100, and M for 1000. Mayan numbers 00:03:08
were written from bottom to top, so the number 19 becomes bars of 5, 5, 5, with four dots 00:03:17
above the bars. To complete the first set of 20, a dot was raised over a shell-like 00:03:25
symbol. To get 21, the elevated placement of the dot remained to represent 20, and a 00:03:31
dot was added underneath to represent 21. Then the counting cycle for the next 20 began 00:03:37
again. So what do you think the number 40 or 41 would look like? In Europe at this time, 00:03:43
people still struggled with the Roman numeral system. That system suffered from two serious 00:03:50
defects. First, there was no zero. And second, Roman numbers were entirely symbolic, having 00:03:55
no direct connection to the number of items represented. So, are you ready for a challenge? 00:04:02
Okay. Working together, try adding 21 and 33 using the Mayan system. Then try adding 00:04:07
21 and 33 using Roman numerals. This is a good time to pause the program. So how did 00:04:14
you do? Let's check your work. In Mayan, the number 21 is represented as dot, dot. 33 is 00:04:20
two bars equaling 10, three dots for units, and an elevated dot representing 20. Adding 00:04:29
together, you get 54, which is two bars, four dots, and two elevated dots. Easy to decipher. 00:04:37
In Roman, you have XXI plus XXXIII equals LIV. Unless you actually know what the Roman 00:04:46
symbols stand for, you have no idea what you are seeing. In Mayan, you can actually add 00:04:55
up the dots, bars, and shells. Mayan merchants often used cocoa beans, sticks, and shells 00:05:01
to do these calculations. From these three symbols, the Mayans could do everything from 00:05:07
the simplest arithmetic needed for trade to keeping track of astronomical events, both 00:05:12
past and future. Speaking of astronomy, remember how I said the Earth's axis was tilted at 00:05:17
23.5 degrees? If you round that to 24, how would you write that in Mayan? The Mayan system 00:05:22
of counting using dots, bars, and shells can be compared with the ones and zeros used 00:05:28
by modern computers, and it was all done 1,500 years ago. With all the advances that the 00:05:33
Mayans made, it's interesting to speculate what would have happened if the Mayans had 00:05:39
sailed east to discover Europe instead of the Europeans sailing west to discover the 00:05:43
Americas. To learn more about Mayan mathematics, go to the following websites. Back to you, 00:05:47
Stan. Thanks, Stan. Well, guys, that wraps up another episode of NASA Connect. We'd like 00:05:54
to thank everyone who helped make this program possible. Got a comment, question, or suggestion? 00:06:02
Well, then email them to connect at lark.nasa.gov. I'd like to leave you guys with a thought 00:06:08
and a challenge. What is impressive about these sites is the accuracy of their observations 00:06:16
and the time and effort they put into building these observatories. Looking back at these 00:06:23
buildings and places, we see that the ancients had a natural connection to their environments 00:06:29
and that they were also capable of high-tech accomplishments in their own times. So now, 00:06:35
here's my challenge. How do you think people 300 or even 1,000 years from now will see 00:06:42
us through the artifacts that we leave behind? Until next time, stay connected to math, science, 00:06:49
technology, and NASA. Goodbye for now. 00:06:57
The evening stars, they will tell us it's in the west direction. It's almost nighttime. 00:07:19
Deliberated more like the dipper and all that. It revolves in different position. It will 00:07:27
tell us if it's fall, spring, or summertime, wintertime. 00:07:34
Valoración:
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Eres el primero. Inicia sesión para valorar el vídeo.
Idioma/s:
en
Materias:
Matemáticas
Niveles educativos:
▼ Mostrar / ocultar niveles
      • Nivel Intermedio
Autor/es:
NASA LaRC Office of Education
Subido por:
EducaMadrid
Licencia:
Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
Visualizaciones:
736
Fecha:
28 de mayo de 2007 - 16:54
Visibilidad:
Público
Enlace Relacionado:
NASAs center for distance learning
Duración:
07′ 39″
Relación de aspecto:
4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
Resolución:
480x360 píxeles
Tamaño:
45.93 MBytes

Del mismo autor…

Ver más del mismo autor

EducaMadrid, Plataforma Educativa de la Comunidad de Madrid

Plataforma Educativa EducaMadrid