Response to "Was Pythagoras Chinese?"

The article by Ross Gustafson provides excellent insights on the naming of mathematical theories, which had never occurred to me before reading it. As an ethnic Chinese, I appreciate such discussions which contribute to the acknowledgment of non-European sources of mathematics. Similar to other STEM subjects, mathematics is extremely objective, rational, and universal in the sense that different mathematical sources give the same conclusion to the same problem. Acknowledging non-European sources likely will not change the foundations of modern day Mathematics. Nevertheless, such acknowledgement does makes a difference in enriching math education and reducing cultural marginalization. Inclusion of math works from non-Greek origins exposes students to a variety of cultures, which might engage students in learning mathematics. The marginalization of what traditional Europeans think of as "peripheral cultures" does not only occur in the attribution of mathematical development. Introducing non-European sources of mathematics to the nowadays "global citizens" can be the first step towards the elimination of the long-established cultural injustice. 

 The article talks about how the mathematical theories are named in western societies, and I can provide a perspective of the naming issue from within a non-European society. Through my K-12 education in China, I learned Pythagorean theorem, as well as Pascal's Triangle under the name of their Chinese origins, Gou Gu theorem and Yang Hui Triangle respectively. At the same time, I was also taught the Vieta's Formula and many other Greek-origin concepts. From my understanding, the naming of these mathematical concepts was determined long before the globalization of our world, and it was rather independent of the political power of each nation at that time. Instead, reliable and understandable sources were more critical. Just as how Gustafson points out that "no English translation of the works has been made to date, despite the fact that [Jiu Zhang Suan Shu] is perhaps the most important compilation of ancient Chinese mathematics" (page 3), the barriers from documentation and translation of mathematics work from other cultures are likely the reason why they were not acknowledged by western societies. The naming of mathematical works possesses historical factors. Such debates is better to focus on the acknowledgement, rather than the naming itself.