Geschichte der Mathematik

Timekeeping motivated the world’s oldest mathematical devices. In ancient cultures, the need to predict the phases of the moon made a lunar calendar especially useful for the hunters of antiquity. Anthropologists have discovered bones up to 37,000 years old, with 29 notches cut into them to represent the days of the month. The first fully developed mathematical systems developed inand. Babylonian maths is based on a base 60 system, giving us 60 seconds in a minute, and 60 minutes in an hour. The mathematicians ofalso demonstrate that they must have been aware of Pythagoras’s theorem – at least 1,000 years before Pythagoras was born.
Ancientused an unusual method of multiplication and division – one based on repeated doubling and halving. To multiply any numbers together, all that’s required is knowledge of simple addition and the two times table. Greek civilisation gave us one of the giants of Greek mathematics: Pythagoras. He treated numbers not as abstract qualities, but as comparable with physical objects – one of the most vital conceptual moves in the history of mathematics. (Text: WDR)

The Mayans devised an incredibly accurate calendar. Their calculation of the lunar month varies by just 0.0004 of a day from the value accepted by astronomers today. In, in around 200 BC, the Han Dynasty encouraged scholars to compile a book known as The Nine Chapters, which attempted to recover and preserve forever the lost teachings of the Chinese mathematicians of antiquity. The text is dedicated to solving practical, real-world problems; how to divide land or goods and how to manage building works.was the first civilisation to develop a number system with a special symbol to represent zero – one of the great landmarks in the development of mathematics.
Aryabhata, [476–550 AD] produced a method for finding the value of Pi which generates its true value more accurately than any other contemporary method. In the 7th Century AD, a new regime was established, with its centre at, which aimed to become the world’s greatest intellectual powerhouse. They founded a new centre for learning, called The House of Wisdom, which became the focal-point of attempts to bring together the mathematical know-how of,and. (Text: WDR)

Mathematical problems became spectator sports in 16th century, with generous prizes given to the winners. In such a competitive atmosphere, it’s not surprising that mathematicians would jealously guard their knowledge – and in some cases, behave very badly. Girolamo Cardano, appeared to solve a problem known as the cubic, but he had stolen the solution, from a rival mathematician – Nicolo Tartaglia.began to challenge Italian mathematical domination with Rene Descartes, who linked algebra and geometry – a decisive step that would change the course of the discipline forever.
He was followed by a maths prodigy, Pascal, who proved that the sum of the angles of a triangle were equal to two right angles at just 12 years old. Pascal went on to invent a mechanical calculator and proved that a vacuum could exist. In England Isaac Newton developed calculus, which could account for the orbits of the planets, but spent the rest of his life embroiled in a dispute with a German mathematician over who developed it first. (Text: WDR)

May 1831 saw the discovery and loss of a mathematical genius; before Evariste Galois met his death in a duel for the affection of his love, his scribbled down a theory which eventually unlocked the secrets of symmetry. In, Georg Cantor realised that not only did infinity exist, but managed to demonstrate that there are different kinds of infinity. The computer revolutionised mathematics by enabling lightening speed calculations and helping mathematicians to „see“ chaos, but proof without understanding has continued to unsettle mathematicians. Many argue that the pleasure of mathematics is to be found in the understanding of the problem, not simply a correct solution. In 1900, French mathematician David Hilbert identified the most important unsolved mysteries confronting mathematics, laying down the roadmap for maths in the 20th century. 15 of the 23 problems have been fully or partly resolved and work continues on the rest. (Text: WDR)