The History of Math Essay -- Mathematics Education Logic Numbers Essay

The History of Math Mathematics, con of relationships among quantities, magnitudes, and properties and of reproducible operations by which unknown quantities, magnitudes, and properties may be deduced. In the past, mathematics was regarded as the science of quantity, whether of magnitudes, as in geometry, or of images, as in arithmetic, or of the generalization of these two fields, as in algebra. Toward the spunk of the 19th century, however, mathematics came to be regarded increasingly as the science of relations, or as the science that draws necessary conclusions. This latter view encompasses mathematical or symbolic logic, the science of using symbols to provide an exact theory of logical deduction and inference based on definitions, axioms, postulates, and rules for combining and transforming primitive elements into much complex relations and theorems. This brief survey of the history of mathematics traces the phylogenesis of mathematical ideas and concepts, beginning in prehistory. Indeed, mathematics is nearly as onetime(a) as humanity itself evidence of a sense of geometry and interest in geometric pattern has been found in the designs of prehistoric pottery and textiles and in cave paintings. Primitive counting systems were almost certainly based on using the fingers of one or both hands, as evidenced by the predominance of the numbers 5 and 10 as the bases for most number systems today. Ancient Mathematics The earlier records of advanced, organized mathematics date screening to the ancient Mesopotamian country of Babylonia and to Egypt of the 3rd millennium BC. There mathematics was dominate by arithmetic, with an emphasis on measurement and calculation in geometry and with no trace of later mathematical concepts such as axioms or proofs. The earliest Egyptian texts, composed about 1800 BC, reveal a decimal count system with separate symbols for the successive powers of 10 (1, 10, 100, and so forth), just as in the system used by the Romans. Numbers were equal by writing down the symbol for 1, 10, 100, and so on as galore(postnominal) times as the unit was in a given number. For example, the symbol for 1 was written five times to represent the number 5, the symbol for 10 was written six times to represent the number 60, and the symbol for 100 was written three times to represent the number 300. Together, these symbols represented the number 365. Addition was d... ...eat impetus to beas of mathematics such as numeric analysis and finite mathematics. It has suggested new areas for mathematical investigation, such as the ponder of algorithms. It has also become a powerful tool in areas as diverse as number theory, differential equations, and abstract algebra. In addition, the calculator has made possible the solution of several long-standing problems in mathematics, such as the four-color problem first proposed in the mid-19th century. The theorem stated that four colors are sufficient to color any map, given that a ny two countries with a contiguous boundary require different colors. The theorem was finally proved in 1976 by means of a large-scale computer at the University of Illinois. mathematical knowledge in the modern world is advancing at a faster rate than ever before. Theories that were once separate have been interconnected into theories that are both more comprehensive and more abstract. Although many valuable problems have been solved, other hardy perennials, such as the Riemann hypothesis, remain, and new and evenly challenging problems arise. Even the most abstract mathematics seems to be finding applications. Word Count 4793