Título: Shen Kuo
Seção: Mathematics and optics
Background: Shen Kuo (Chinese: Chen Gua ; 1031-1095), courtesy name Cunzhong (Cun Zhong ) and pseudonym Mengqi (now usually given as Mengxi) Weng (Meng Xi Weng ), was a Han Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman of the Song dynasty (960-1279). Excelling in many fields of study and statecraft, he was a mathematician, astronomer, meteorologist, geologist, zoologist, botanist, pharmacologist, agronomist, archaeologist, ethnographer, cartographer, encyclopedist, general, diplomat, hydraulic engineer, inventor, academy chancellor, finance minister, governmental state inspector, poet, and musician.

Conteúdo: Shen Kuo was born in Qiantang (modern-day Hangzhou) in the year 1031. His father Shen Zhou (Chen Zhou ; 978-1052) was a somewhat lower-class gentry figure serving in official posts on the provincial level; his mother was from a family of equal status in Suzhou, with her maiden name being Xu (Xu ). Shen Kuo received his initial childhood education from his mother, which was a common practice in China during this period. She was very educated herself, teaching Kuo and his brother Pi (Pi ) the military doctrines of her own elder brother Xu Tang (Xu Dong ; 975-1016). Since Shen was unable to boast of a prominent familial clan history like many of his elite peers born in the north, he was forced to rely on his wit and stern determination to achieve in his studies, subsequently passing the imperial examinations and enter the challenging and sophisticated life of an exam-drafted state bureaucrat.  From about 1040 AD, Shen's family moved around Sichuan province and finally to the international seaport at Xiamen, where Shen's father accepted minor provincial posts in each new location. Shen Zhou also served several years in the prestigious capital judiciary, the equivalent of a federal supreme court. Shen Kuo took notice of the various towns and rural features of China as his family traveled, while he became interested during his youth in the diverse topography of the land. He also observed the intriguing aspects of his father's engagement in administrative governance and the manageri

user: What does the article first state about mathematics?

assistant: Shen Kuo mastered many practical mathematical problems, including many complex formulas for geometry, circle packing, and chords and arcs problems employing trigonometry.

user: What did he address with the problems?

assistant: Shen addressed problems of writing out very large numbers, as large as 1043.

user: What did he say about this?

assistant: Shen's "technique of small increments" laid the foundation in Chinese mathematics for packing problems involving equal difference series.

user: What inspired his problem solving strategies?

assistant: Shen wrote extensively about what he had learned while working for the state treasury, including mathematical problems posed by computing land tax,

user: Did the article say anything else about his working for the state treasury?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: Did he write about anything else?

assistant: Shen wrote about the earlier Yi Xing (672-717), a Buddhist monk who applied an early escapement mechanism to a water-powered celestial globe.