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MATH

SDAWDASA SASQEQW

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13 views

MATH

SDAWDASA SASQEQW

Uploaded by

VB Twins
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is mathematics?

Mathematics is the science that deals with the logic of shape, quantity and
arrangement. Math is all around us, in everything we do. It is the building block for
everything in our daily lives, including mobile devices, computers, software,
architecture (ancient and modern), art, money, engineering and even sports.

Since the beginning of recorded history, mathematical discovery has been at the
forefront of every civilized society, and math has been used by even the most
primitive and earliest cultures. The need for math arose because of the increasingly
complex demands from societies around the world, which required more advanced
mathematical solutions, as outlined by mathematician Raymond L. Wilder in his
book "Evolution of Mathematical Concepts" (Dover Publications, 2013).
The more complex a society, the more complex the mathematical needs. Primitive
tribes needed little more than the ability to count, but also used math to calculate
the position of the sun and the physics of hunting. "All the records —
anthropological and historical — show that counting and, ultimately, numeral
systems as a device for counting form the inception of the mathematical element in
all cultures," Wilder wrote in 1968.

This was based on using the bones in the fingers to count and then use as sets,
according to Georges Ifrah in his book "The Universal History Of Numbers" (John Wiley
& Sons, 2000). From these systems we have the basis of arithmetic, which includes
basic operations of addition, multiplication, division, fractions and square roots.
Wilder explained that the Sumerians' system passed through the Akkadian Empire
to the Babylonians around 300 B.C. Six hundred years later, in Central America,
the Maya developed elaborate calendar systems and were skilled astronomers.
About this time, the concept of zero was developed in India.
As civilizations developed, mathematicians began to work with geometry, which
computes areas, volumes and angles, and has many practical applications.
Geometry is used in everything from home construction to fashion and interior
design. As Richard J. Gillings wrote in his book "Mathematics in the Time of the Pharaohs"
(Dover Publications, 1982), the pyramids of Giza in Egypt are stunning examples of
ancient civilizations' advanced use of geometry.

Geometry went hand in hand with algebra. Persian mathematician Muḥammad ibn
Mūsā al-Khwārizmī authored the earliest recorded work on algebra called "The
Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing" around 820 A.D.,
according to Philip K. Hitti, a history professor at Princeton and Harvard University.
Al-Khwārizmī also developed quick methods for multiplying and dividing numbers,
which are known as algorithms — a corruption of his name, which in Latin was
translated to Algorithmi.
Algebra offered civilizations a way to divide inheritances and allocate resources.
The study of algebra meant mathematicians could solve linear equations and
systems, as well as quadratics, and delve into positive and negative solutions.
Mathematicians in ancient times also began to look at number theory, which "deals
with properties of the whole numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …," Tom M. Apostol, a professor
at the California Institute of Technology, wrote in "Introduction to Analytic Number
Theory" (Springer, 1976). With origins in the construction of shape, number theory
looks at figurate numbers, the characterization of numbers, and theorems.

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