Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Libraries and Leuconia

Probably what I'll most miss from my school is our library. I love my school's library. Heck, I love libraries. Just that word is romantic to my ears.

I grew up in the same school, studied there in my grade school, high school and college years. It is in our grade school library that I first fell in love with reading and ever since, it has been a lifelong relationship.

Just last week, I visited my college library. We have good periodicals, probably the best in my town. I read an educational journal about the Philippines. It was published by Ateneo de Manila University and I've noticed that the best books and reading materials about Philippine History are published from Ateneo. Even our national hero, Jose Rizal, is from Ateneo.

The journal is called Philippine Studies. I braved reading it even though that September 2011 issue was about preconquest math. I learned so much about how advanced and civilized Filipinos were. I love reading about Pre-Spanish Philippines. Even at that time we already had an advanced and organized counting system which still closely resembles how Filipinos count today. We've also been extensively using math for business. Heck, Pre-Spanish Filipinos even knows and applies the concept on interest and compounding interest.

Math things aside, another fact I found interesting was that my country, the Philippines, has been mentioned specifically in ancient texts. Before it was named Philippines by the Spaniards, it was known as Leuconia.

"Leuconia, the ancient Ptolemaic name for the Philippines." (Manapat, 2011)

It's a beautiful name. :)

~

Manapat, R. (2011, September). Mathematical Ideas in Early Philippine Society. Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints .

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