Essay - The History of Mathematics Mathematics — the Study of Numbers...

The History of Mathematics

***** — the study of numbers, shapes and symbols — is considered remarkable because its various branches can be developed from basic elements that need not be related to anything frame of reference. Most people consider the study of mathematics difficult to grasp because one must confine their thoughts within the boundaries ***** are defined by rigid rules or laws.

Mathematics originated with counting, which man created out of necessity to h*****le dealing with large numbers. Originally, ***** was accomplished ***** piles of pebbles, *****ches on a stick or marks on the ground. Later, *****se methods advanced into a written numbering system which made calculating mathematical problems less strenuous.

***** of the contributions in ***** field of ***** are thanks in part to the works of Euclid ***** Alexandria, Archimedes of Syracuse, Sir Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Leonhard Euler, Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss, Felix Christian Klein, Kurt Gdel, Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov and Shigefumi Mori. Each, through *****ir discoveries, theories and studies, have made life easier for today's society ***** their innovative inventions to the world that revolves around numbers.

***** first mathematicians

The workings of the first ma*****matics ***** be traced to Babylon and Egypt during the third millennium B.C. Over time, a num*****r system with a base of 60 was ***** in Babylon. Large numbers ***** fractions could be represented, and these formed the basis of advanced ***** evolution.

Pythagorean triples were studied from at least 1700 B.C. This study of linear and quadratic equations led to the form ***** primitive numerical algebra. Similar figures, areas ***** volumes were also studied, and the ***** values for pi ***** obtained. The Greeks inherited the *****ian principles and developed mathematics around 450 B.C. They discovered irrational ***** when they determined that all real num*****rs could not accurately express all values, such as relationships between sides. After 300 B.C., the Greek civilization made significant progress in the study of mathematics. Progress was also made in the Islamic countries of Syria, India and Iran but ***** work had a different focus, though ***** Greek ***** held true.

The Rom*****n ***** Egyptian societies didn't take ***** easy route when it came ***** mathematical systems and arithmetic calculations. Multiplications of Roman numerals is nearly impossible and exceedingly complex. Unlike the Babylonians, the Egyptians did not fully develop their understanding of Mathematics, instead concerning themselves ***** practical applications of *****.

The Babylonians, their base 60 system and Pythagorean *****

The Babylonian's system of writing, called cunei*****, ***** *****d on a series of str*****ight lined symbols. These symbols were written out wet and then baked in the sun to preserve **********. Curved lines ***** ***** be drawn. These *****form symbols led ***** many tables used to aid calculation. The ***** ***** a base 60 system, which has ten proper div*****ors, instead ***** our currently used base 10 with only two ***** divisors. When compared, their ***** may have been more advanced since ***** more numbers have a finite form.

Another Babylonian