"In geometry the forte of the Egyptians lay in making constructions and determining areas. The area of an isosceles triangle, of which the sides measure 10 ruths and the base 4 ruths, was erroneously given as 20 square ruths, or half the product of the base by one side. The area of an isosceles trapezoid is found, similarly by multiplying half the sum of the parallel sides by one of the non-parallel sides. The area of a circle is found by deducting from the diameter 1/2 of its length and squaring the remainder. Here π is taken=(16/9)2=3.1604..., a very fair approximation. The papyrus explains also such problems as these,—To mark out in the field a right triangle whose sides are 10 and 4 units; or a trapezoid whose parallel sides are 6 and 4, and the non-parallel sides each 20 units."
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p. 11.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_History_of_Mathematics
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A History of Mathematics
A History of Mathematics by Florian Cajori was the first popular history of mathematics written in the United States. It was published in 1893.
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