HISTROY AND PHILOSPHY OF MATHEMATICS

History AND PhilosophyOF MATHEMATICS

HISTORY a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes

a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events

events of the past

PHILOSOPHY a search for the total human meaning of mans existence and experience

the knowledge of things by their ultimate causes or reasons (Aristotle)

HISTORY OF MATHEMATICSThe area of study known as the history of mathematics is primarily an investigation into the origin of discoveries in mathematics and, to a lesser extent, an investigation into the mathematical methods and notations of the past.

PHILOSOPHY OF MATHEMATICSThe philosophy of mathematics plays an important role in analytic philosophy, both as a subject of inquiry in its own right, and as an important landmark in the broader philosophical landscape. Mathematical knowledge has long been necessary and certain, so giving an account of mathematical knowledge is an important part of epistemology.

SEATWORK: Why is it important to study the history of Mathematics?

Do you think there are still undiscovered things in the history of math?Explain.

HISTORY and PHILOSOPHY of MATHEMATICS Prehistoric Times Sumerian/Babylonian Mathematics Egyptian Mathematics Greek Mathematics Hellenistic Mathematics Roman Mathematics Mayan Mathematics Chinese Mathematics

PREHISTORIC TIMES (STONE AGE)PALEOLITHIC AGE often referred to as the Old Stone Age no permanent places to live; lived in caves and made temporary homes by using plants and animal skins to make tents more preoccupied with looking for food in order to surviveMade weapons for hunting like daggers and spears made of stones, bones, or sticks NEOLITHIC AGE often referred to as the New Stone Age marked with changes from crude ways of doing things to a more refined from developed farming, tamed wild animals, and working with metals; and established villages developed ideas of trade, private property, and quantity

ANCIENT BABYLONIAThe Sumerians had developed an abstract form of writing based on cuneiform (wedge-shaped) symbols. Their symbols were written on wet clay tablets which are baked in the hot sun and many thousands of these tablets have survived to this day. It was the use of stylus on a clay medium that led to the use of cuneiform symbols since curved lines could not be drawn.

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ANCIENT BABYLONIAThe later Babylonians adopted the same style of cuneiform writing on clay tablets. They had an advanced number system, in some ways more advanced than our present systems. It was a positional system with a base of 60 rather than the system with base 10 in widespread use today.

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ANCIENT BABYLONIAThe Babylonians divided the day into 24 hours, each hour into 60 minutes, each minute into 60 seconds. This form of counting has survived for 4000 years.

To write 5h 25 30, is just to write the sexagesimal fraction, 5 25/60 30/3600.

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ANCIENT BABYLONIASexagesimal (base-sixty) originated with ancient Sumerians (2000 BC), transmitted to Babyloniansstill used for measuring time, angles and geographic coordinates.

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ANCIENT BABYLONIAPerhaps the most amazing aspect of Babylonians calculating skills was their construction of tablets to aid calculation. Two tablets found at Senkerah on the Euphrates in 1854 dated from 2000 BC. They give squares of the numbers up to 59 and cubes of the numbers up to 32.

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