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Iron plate with an order 6 magic square in Eastern Arabic numerals from China, dating to the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). Li Shanlan identity: discovered by the mathematician Li Shanlan in 1867. [29] Liu Hui's π algorithm: Liu Hui's π algorithm was invented by Liu Hui (fl. 3rd century), a mathematician of Wei Kingdom.
The telescope was introduced from Europe in the seventeenth century. In 1669, the Peking observatory was completely redesigned and refitted under the direction of Ferdinand Verbiest. Today, China continues to be active in the field of astronomy, with many observatories and its own space program.
The so-called Giants' Churches (Finn. jätinkirkko ), which are large, from c. 20 metres (66 ft) to over 70 metres (230 ft) long rectangular or oval stone enclosures built in the Neolithic (c. 3000–1800 BC), have axis and doorway orientations towards the sunrises and sunsets of the solstices and other calendrically significant days.
c. 1200 BC - Chinese divide the sky into twenty eight regions (Chinese constellations) for recognition of the stars. c. 1100 BC - Chinese first determine the spring equinox. 776 BC - Chinese make the earliest reliable record of a solar eclipse.
At Damaidi in Ningxia, 3,172 cliff carvings dating to 6000–5000 BC have been discovered, "featuring 8,453 individual characters such as the sun, moon, stars, gods and scenes of hunting or grazing", according to researcher Li Xiangshi.
In his book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World, British author Gavin Menzies claimed that the treasure fleets of Ming admiral Zheng He arrived in America in 1421. [69] Professional historians contend that Zheng He reached the eastern coast of Africa, and dismiss Menzies's hypothesis as entirely without proof. [70] [71] [72] [73]
1513 – Jorge Álvares becomes the first European to reach China by sea, landing on Nei Lingding Island at the Pearl River Delta. [1] 1513 – Vasco Núñez de Balboa crosses the Isthmus of Panama and reaches the Bay of San Miguel, reaching the "Mar del Sur" (Pacific Ocean). [2] 1513 – Juan Ponce de León explores "La Florida" and the Yucatán.
European astronomy was so much judged worth consideration that numerous Chinese authors developed the idea that the Chinese of antiquity had anticipated most of the novelties presented by the missionaries as European discoveries, for example, the rotundity of the Earth and the "heavenly spherical star carrier model".