模拟计算方法.pdf

INTRODUCTION
Geometry is one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is
supposed to have arisen out of the desire of the Ancient Egyptians
to make accurate maps in order to settle disputes over landholders' boundaries. Their maps were analogues of the spatial
relationships of neighbouring areas of land, and the analogue was
available in a convenient form after the floods of the Nile had
removed the boundary markers.
Today every draughtsman is familiar with the geometrical
methods first thought out by the Greeks and Egyptians. With their
aid he can lay out in a convenient and readily changed form the
design of a complex machine or building to high accuracy.
Man does much of his thinking by drawing analogies between
something which is partly understood and something which is
more fully understood or which is more readily handled. The
physicist explains some aspects of the behaviour of atoms and
electrons by comparing them to billiard balls, the barrister points
to a precedent, a case similar to the one in question, to help decide
the answer to his case, and the theatre seeks to clarify our personal
relationships by acting a similitude of real life.