How the history of mathematics shapes our world

The history of mathematics deals with where mathematical discoveries came from and the methods and notation people used in the past. These lessons answer how mathematical ideas shape our world and help readers understand their influence across different times and areas of mathematics.

2 articles, 1 book · about 1 hr 20 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   the history of mathematics · Wikipedia · 60+ min read

   In the history of mathematics, Babylonian mathematics used a sexagesimal (base-60) numeral system. Its notation could represent fractions as easily as whole numbers, so multiplying numbers that contained fractions was no different from multiplying integers. Brahmagupta lucidly explained zero as both a placeholder and decimal digit and explained the Hindu, Arabic numeral system in the 7th century. A translation of his Indian text on mathematics (c. 770) introduced Islamic mathematicians to this number system, which they adapted as Arabic numerals.

2. Read
   

   An Ancient Geometry Problem Falls to New Mathematical Techniques | Quanta Magazine · Quanta Magazine · 5 min read

   Laczkovich transformed the geometry problem into a graph theory problem. He took a large graph with two separate sets of vertices, one corresponding to a circle, the other to a square, and established one-to-one correspondences between vertices in one set and those in the other.

3. Book
   

   Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions · Bookshop.org

   Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott is a work of science (and mathematical) fiction that offers a satirical, imaginative way to engage with mathematics.

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