History
of the Binomial Coefficients Around The World
The binomial coefficients have
been studied in cultures around the world, both in the context of binomial
expansions and in the obvious question of how many ways to choose k
items out of a collection of n things. A.W.F. Edwards' book Pascal's
Arithmetical Triangle is the best source we have found in the English
language for the world history of the concepts found in the binomial
coefficients, and most of the information here is a summary of the excellent
scholarly work found there, with some information added from other books
and websites.