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

The History of Mathematics

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 ***** one must confine their thoughts within the boundaries that are defined by rigid rules or laws.

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

Many of the contributions in the field of mathematics are thanks ***** 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 their discoveries, theories and studies, have ***** life easier for today's society through their innovative inventions to the world that revolves around numbers.

***** first mathematicians

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

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

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

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

***** Babylonian's system of writing, called cuneiform, ***** based on a series of str*****ight lined symbols. These symbols were written out wet and then baked in the sun to preserve them. Curved lines could not be drawn. These ***** symbols led ***** many tables used to aid calculation. The Babylonians ***** a base 60 system, which has ten proper divisors, instead ***** our currently used base 10 with only two ***** divisors. When compared, their system may have been more ***** since ***** more numbers have a finite form.

A*****her Babylonian