Egyptian Fractions and Fibonacci’s Greedy Algorithm (VIDEO!)

The Egyptians of ancient times were very practical people and the curious way they represented fractions reflects this! In this – brief – video we explain the Egyptian’s rationale and show how some 2000 years later Fibonacci settled the question as to whether every fraction can indeed be written the Egyptian way. (Did the Egyptians themselves ever worry about this?)

Egyptian Fractions

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  Written for educators - and their students too! - this website, slowly growing, takes all the content Tanton has developed in his books, videos, and workshops, and organizes it into short, self-contained, and complete, curriculum units proving that mathematics, at all points of the school curriculum, can be joyous, fresh, innovative, rich, deep-thinking, and devoid of any rote doing! Let's teach generations of students to be self-reliant thinkers, willing to flail and to use their common sense to "nut their way" through challenges, to assess and judge results, and to adjust actions to find success. (Great life skills!)

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  • Encyclopedia of Mathematics
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