Mathematics: The Study of Numbers, Quantity, and Space
Mathematics The Study of Numbers Quantity and Space businesses and industries They are employed at all levels of government They work at universities Mathematicians may be accoun tants work in the insurance industry work at nonprofits or become market researchers analysts financial advisers real estate agents and statisticians They may go on to become doctors lawyers architects scientists come puter programmers video game developers digital animators and more That s because mathematicians learn how to use logic and analysis In many ways math is a language that first developed in the ancient world And like a language math has contin ued to evolve and grow The Egyptians show evidence of math through their man made pyramids The Babylonians of ancient Mesopotamia devel oped ways to work with fractions The Greeks took math to a philosophical level using it for reasoning Indian mathematicians advanced algebra Italians during the Renaissance began using letters of the alphabet in algebraic equations In the 17th century calculus and analytic geometry were developed Isaac Newton an English physicist who is considered one of 8
INTRODUCTION the most influential scientists of all time used both physics and math to make many math ematical discoveries The 18th and 19th centuries saw tremen dous changes in mathematics and more specialization by German English French and United States mathematicians Today mathematics is highly specialized There are many subdivisions of modern math ematics including algebra calculus geometry and trigonometry There is complex analysis the branch of math that investigates complex numbers number theory the study of different number systems set theory the expression of mathematics in terms of sets and mathematic cal logic drawing conclusions from premises Math will continue to evolve and grow Think about how computers have changed the way math is studied Mathematicians now use computers to solve problems too difficult to solve on paper To understand where math is today it's important to start at the beginning F 09
MATHEMATICS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD athematics is often defined as the study l of quantity magnitude and relations of numbers or symbols It embraces the subjects of arithmetic geometry algebra calculus probability statistics and many other special areas of research There are two major divisions of mathe matics pure and applied Pure mathematics investigates the subject solely for its the oretical interest Applied mathematics develops tools and techniques for solving specific problems of business and engineer ing or for highly theoretical applications in the sciences 10
MATHEMATICS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD Mathematics is pervasive throughout modern life Baking a cake or building a house involves the use of numbers geom etry measures and space The design of precision instruments the development of new technologies and advanced computers all use more technical mathematics Mathematics first arose from the practical need to measure time and to count Thus the history of mathematics begins with the origins of numbers and recognition of the dimensions and properties of space and time The earli est evidence of primitive forms of counting occurs in notched bones and scored pieces of wood and stone Early uses of geometry are revealed in patterns found on ancient cave walls and pottery F 09 EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA As civilizations arose in Asia and the Near East the field of mathematics evolved Both sophisticated number systems and basic knowledge of arithmetic geometry and alge bra began to develop The earliest continuous records of math ematical activity that have survived in written 11
