Mathematics is an exact discipline, which is called the queen of all sciences. It is believed that the first numbers appeared thousands of years ago, along with a speech. On this occasion, F. Engels wrote that the most ancient source of mathematical knowledge is the fingers. Among the most ancient mathematical documents that have survived to this day, consider the records of the Babylonians. According to scientists, they were made more than eight thousand years ago. Mathematical records are found in other nations. So how did mathematics come about, and who invented it?
History
No one can say for sure how mathematics came about. Information about it is contained in various letters from various peoples. The most ancient information that has survived to this day is cuneiform tablets.
Found artifacts of the era of Babylon show that even six thousand years ago, people calculated household expenses, trade transactions, and solved mathematical problems. Later, the Babylonians began to solve complex algebraic problems, cubic and square calculations.
And how did the mathematics with fractions come about, when was it? People did not learn to calculate such complex actions right away, but already in Ancient Egypt they knew how to carry out calculations with fractions for which there was a unit in the numeral. Decimal fractions appeared due to the Samarkand mathematician D. for-Samosud al-Kashi five hundred years ago. After almost two centuries, the Flemish mathematician Stephen introduced them to Europe.
Even today, various discoveries are made in mathematics. This is due to the fact that mathematics is a science that does not stand still, but is constantly moving forward.
Science
Since the advent of mathematics, people have become more intelligent. In ancient times, the account was needed for all kinds of activities. Mathematics was used in cattle breeding, trade. To make it more convenient to use the account, body parts were used: fingers, toes. This is evidenced by ancient cave paintings, which depict numbers in the form of a certain number of pictured fingers.
First discoveries
Many scientists are trying to solve the mystery of history - how mathematics came about. However, no one can name the exact date of the emergence of science.
Among all the existing discoveries, the most significant is the invention of the number itself and the four main actions: addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Among geometric concepts, the first achievements were a straight line and a circle. Further, the Babylonians and Egyptians made a huge contribution to the development of science about three thousand years ago. Based on this, answering the question of where the mathematics appeared, we can say that it originated in Babylon, and then in Egypt. The surviving tablets show what calculations were carried out in those days.
Science in Babylon and Egypt
In Babylon, where mathematics came from, research was constantly being developed in which units and dozens were used. It was the Babylonian scientists who came up with the degrees, calculus systems were developed. However, in the Babylonian system there was no zero, which is why the designation of some numbers was complicated.
In Egypt, numbers were designated as hieroglyphs.
Until the seventeenth century, mathematics was considered a science that studies numbers, geometric shapes, and quantities. It was used in trade, astronomy, architecture, during earthwork. And only from the eighteenth century did it begin its rapid development.
The story of math
Scientists are still wondering in which country mathematics appeared. There is evidence showing that simple measurements were performed by the Incas. These people have developed a special nodular account system, which allows calculating income and expenses.
From Ancient Egypt, texts for solving problems have reached us. The Egyptians knew fractions, they calculated the area, volume. One of the documents is more than four thousand years old - this is Rinda Papyrus.
From the library of Ashurbanipal clay tablets have reached us. Mesopotamia was considered highly developed. Here, even mathematics was of a higher level than in other countries.
Not a small contribution to the development of science was made by the ancient Greeks. About three hundred years before our era, Euclidius created a manuscript on geometry. Later, other scientists made a contribution to science.
In China, about two hundred years before our era, mathematics was studied in "Arithmetic in Nine Chapters." This scripture was compiled from earlier records.
Interesting Facts
Below is a summary of how mathematics came about, and what interesting facts are associated with it. It turns out that this science is even more complicated than it seems.
- The whole science of mathematics fits in 100,000 books.
- The first female mathematician is Hypatia, who lived in Ancient Byzantium 500 years before our era.
- The most mysterious number, with which not only many mathematical discoveries, but also religious scriptures are associated, is 666.
- The European Parliament has a seat number 666, which is always empty.
- All over the world, all objects that fall under the number 666 are replaced with other numbers. So, in the world there are no tracks with the number 666, minibuses, phone codes.
- The very first mathematical evidence found was found in Swaziland. Dashes were stamped on the bones of baboons. The age of this find is more than 40,000 years.
- Each nation has its own superstitious number. In Russia, this is 13, and in China - 4, moreover, the Chinese do not have apartments with this number, the elevator does not have a fourth floor. In Italy they do not like 17.
- The happiest and most popular figures according to the survey are 7 and 3. These results are not surprising, because in the ancient religion positive energy is associated with the number 7.
- The largest number in the world is centillion. He has 600 zeros at the end.
- The smallest number known to scientists has not even received a name. This is a decimal fraction, in which, after the decimal point, the unit has one hundred million trillion trillion zeros. This figure is not used by mathematicians, but is used by astronomers in calculating the probability of the formation of a new Universe from an atom.
Math in life
Every day, people use mathematics and do not even realize that a lot of interesting things are connected with this science.
Once in England, lived the scientist A. de Moire. He was interested in the fact that the duration of sleep increased. The scientist noticed that his sleep increased by fifteen minutes. As a mathematician, he wondered what this could lead to. The scientist calculated when his sleep will take 24 hours. This date fell on November 27, 1754 - the date of his death.
In Russian schools, the number zero is not considered to be natural, but in Western schools - it refers to many natural numbers.
Mathematicians always try to perform various actions with numbers, even when playing in a casino. It turns out that if you add up all the numbers on the roulette wheel, the sum will be 666.
There are many interesting mathematical facts in history. For example, the number pi began to be used in the sixth century BC, quadratic equations appeared in India in the VI century AD. Ancient Greek scholars wrote works on mathematics in dozens of volumes. Their work is still used by scientists.