A Brief History of Mathematics

Ancient Period
Greek Period
Hindu-Arabic Period
Period of Transmission
Early Modern Period
Modern Period

Ancient Period (3000 B.C. to 260 A.D.)

A. Number Systems and Arithmetic
Development of numeration systems.
Creation of arithmetic techniques, lookup tables, the abacus and other
calculation tools.

B. Practical Measurement, Geometry and Astronomy

Measurement units devised to quantify distance, area, volume, and
time.
Geometric reasoning used to measure distances indirectly.
Calendars invented to predict seasons, astronomical events.
Geometrical forms and patterns appear in art and architecture.

Practical Mathematics

As ancient civilizations developed, the

need for practical mathematics
increased. They required numeration
systems and arithmetic techniques for
trade, measurement strategies for
construction, and astronomical
calculations to track the seasons and
cosmic cycles.

Babylonian Numerals

The Babylonian Tablet Plimpton 322

This mathematical tablet was recovered from an unknown place in the Iraqi
desert. It was written originally sometime around 1800 BC. The tablet
presents a list of Pythagorean triples written in Babylonian numerals. This
numeration system uses only two symbols and a base of sixty.

Chinese Mathematics

Diagram from Chiu Chang

Suan Shu, an ancient
Chinese mathematical text
from the Han Dynasty (206
B.C. to A.D. 220).
This book consists of nine
chapters of mathematical
problems. Three involve
surveying and engineering
formulas, three are devoted to
problems of taxation and
bureaucratic administration,
and the remaining three to
specific computational
techniques.

Demonstration of the Gou-Gu

(Pythagorean) Theorem

Calculating Devices

Roman Bronze
Pocket Abacus

Babylonian Marble
Counting Board
c. 300 B.C.

Chinese Wooden
Abacus

Greek Period (600 B.C. to 450 A.D.)

A. Greek Logic and Philosophy

Greek philosophers promote logical, rational explanations of natural
phenomena.
Schools of logic, science and mathematics are established.
Mathematics is viewed as more than a tool to solve practical problems;
it is seen as a means to understand divine laws.
Mathematicians achieve fame, are valued for their work.

B. Euclidean Geometry
The first mathematical system based on postulates, theorems and
proofs appears in Euclid's Elements.

Area of Greek Influence

Pythagoras of
Crotona
Archimedes
of Syracuse

Apollonius
of Perga

Eratosthenes of
Cyrene

Euclid and Ptolemy of

Alexandria

Mathematics and Greek Philosophy

Greek philosophers viewed the universe in mathematical terms. Plato

described five elements that form the world and related them to the five
regular polyhedra.

Euclids Elements

Greek, c. 800

Arabic, c. 1250

Latin, c. 1120

French, c. 1564

English, c. 1570

Chinese, c. 1607

Translations of Euclids Elements of Gemetry

Proposition 47, the Pythagorean Theorem

The Conic Sections of Apollonius

Archimedes and the Crown

Eureka!

Archimedes Screw

Archimedes screw is a mechanical device used to lift water and such light
materials as grain or sand. To pump water from a river, for example, the
lower end is placed in the river and water rises up the spiral threads of the
screw as it is revolved.

Ptolemaic System

Ptolemy described an Earthcentered solar system in his book

The Almagest.

The system fit well with the

Medieval world view, as shown
by this illustration of Dante.

Hindu-Arabian Period (200 B.C. to 1250 A.D. )

A. Development and Spread of Hindu-Arabic Numbers
A numeration system using base 10, positional notation, the zero symbol
and powerful arithmetic techniques is developed by the Hindus, approx.
150 B.C. to 800 A.D..
The Hindu numeration system is adopted by the Arabs and spread
throughout their sphere of influence (approx. 700 A.D. to 1250 A.D.).
B. Preservation of Greek Mathematics
Arab scholars copied and studied Greek mathematical works, principally
in Baghdad.
C. Development of Algebra and Trigonometry
Arab mathematicians find methods of solution for quadratic, cubic and
higher degree polynomial equations. The English word algebra is
derived from the title of an Arabic book describing these methods.
Hindu trigonometry, especially sine tables, is improved and advanced by
Arab mathematicians

The Muslim Empire

Baghdad and the House of Wisdom

About the middle of the ninth

century Bait Al-Hikma, the "House of
Wisdom" was founded in Baghdad
which combined the functions of a
library, academy, and translation
bureau.
Baghdad attracted scholars from the
Islamic world and became a great
center of learning.

Painting of ancient Baghdad

The Great Mosque of Cordoba

The Great Mosque, Cordoba

During the Middle Ages
Cordoba was the greatest
center of learning in Europe,
second only to Baghdad in the
Islamic world.

Arabic Translation of Apollonius Conic Sections.

Arabic Translation of Ptolemys Almagest

Pages from a
13th century
Arabic edition of
Ptolemys
Almagest.

Islamic Astronomy and Science

Many of the sciences developed from

needs to fulfill the rituals and duties of
Muslim worship. Performing formal prayers
requires that a Muslim faces Mecca. To find
Mecca from any part of the globe, Muslims
invented the compass and developed the
sciences of geography and geometry.
Prayer and fasting require knowing the
times of each duty. Because these times
are marked by astronomical phenomena,
the science of astronomy underwent a
major development.

Painting of astronomers at work

in the observatory of Istanbul

Al-Khwarizmi
Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Musa alKhwarizmi, c. 800 A.D. was a Persian
mathematician, scientist, and author.
He worked in Baghdad and wrote all his
works in Arabic.
He developed the concept of an
algorithm in mathematics. The words
"algorithm" and "algorism" derive
ultimately from his name. His
systematic and logical approach to
solving linear and quadratic equations
gave shape to the discipline of algebra,
a word that is derived from the name of
his book on the subject, Hisab al-jabr
wa al-muqabala (al-jabr became
algebra).
He was also instrumental in promoting
the Hindu-arabic numeration system.

Evolution of Hindu-Arabic Numerals

Period of Transmission (1000 AD 1500 AD)

A. Discovery of Greek and Hindu-Arab mathematics

Greek mathematics texts are translated from Arabic into Latin;
Greek ideas about logic, geometrical reasoning, and a
rational view of the world are re-discovered.
Arab works on algebra and trigonometry are also translated
into Latin and disseminated throughout Europe.
B. Spread of the Hindu-Arabic numeration system
Hindu-Arabic numerals slowly spread over Europe
Pen and paper arithmetic algorithms based on Hindu-Arabic
numerals replace the use the abacus.

Leonardo of Pisa

From Leonardo of Pisas famous book Liber Abaci (1202 A.D.):

"These are the nine figures of the Indians: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
With these nine figures, and with this sign 0 which in Arabic is
called zephirum, any number can be written, as will be
demonstrated."

Jealousy Multiplication

16th century Arab copy of an early

work using Indian numerals to
show multiplication. Top example
is 3 x 64, bottom is 543 x 342.

Page from an anonymous Italian

treatise on arithmetic, 1478.

The Abacists and Algorists Compete

This woodblock engraving

of a competition between
arithmetic techniques is
from from Margarita
Philosphica by Gregorius
Reich, (Freiburg, 1503).
Lady Arithmetic, standing in
the center, gives her
judgment by smiling on the
arithmetician working with
Arabic numerals and the
zero.

Rediscovery of Greek Geometry

Luca Pacioli (1445 - 1514), a

Franciscan friar and
mathematician, stands at a
table filled with geometrical
tools (slate, chalk, compass,
dodecahedron model, etc.),
illustrating a theorem from
Euclid, while examining a
beautiful glass
rhombicuboctahedron halffilled with water.

Pacioli and Leonardo Da Vinci

Luca Pacioli's 1509 book The Divine Proportion was illustrated by

Leonardo Da Vinci.
Shown here is a drawing of an icosidodecahedron and an "elevated"
form of it. For the elevated forms, each face is augmented with a
pyramid composed of equilateral triangles.

Early Modern Period (1450 A.D. 1800 A.D.)

A. Trigonometry and Logarithms
Publication of precise trigonometry tables, improvement of surveying
methods using trigonometry, and mathematical analysis of
trigonometric relationships. (approx. 1530 1600)
Logarithms introduced by Napier in 1614 as a calculation aid. This
advances science in a manner similar to the introduction of the
computer.

B. Symbolic Algebra and Analytic Geometry

Development of symbolic algebra, principally by the French
mathematicians Viete and Descartes
The cartesian coordinate system and analytic geometry developed by
Rene Descartes and Pierre Fermat (1630 1640)

C. Creation of the Calculus

Calculus co-invented by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. Major
ideas of the calculus expanded and refined by others, especially the
Bernoulli family and Leonhard Euler. (approx. 1660 1750).
A powerful tool to solve scientific and engineering problems, it opened
the door to a scientific and mathematical revolution.

Vite and Symbolic Algebra

In his influential treatise In Artem

Analyticam Isagoge (Introduction
to the Analytic Art, published
in1591) Vite demonstrated the
value of symbols. He suggested
using letters as symbols for
quantities, both known and
unknown.

Franois Vite
1540-1603

The Conic Sections and Analytic Geometry

General Quadratic Relation

Ax2 + Bxy + Cy2 + Dx + Ey + F = 0

Parabola
-x2 + y = 0

Ellipse
4x2 + y2 - 9 = 0

Hyperbola
x2 y2 4 = 0

Some Famous Curves

Trisectrix of Maclaurin
y2(a + x) = x2(3a - x)

Lemniscate of Bernoulli
(x2 + y2)2 = a2(x2 - y2)

Archimedes Spiral
r = a

Limacon of Pascal
r = b + 2acos()

Fermats Spiral
r2 = a2

Curves and Calculus: Common Problems

Find the length of a curve.

Find the volume and surface

area of a solid formed by
rotating a curve.

Find the area between curves.

Find measures of a curves shape.

Napiers Logarithms

John Napier
1550-1617
In his Mirifici Logarithmorum
Canonis descriptio (1614) the
Scottish nobleman John Napier
introduced the concept of
logarithms as an aid to
calculation.

Henry Briggs and the Development of Logarithms

Napiers concept of a logarithm is not

the one used today. Soon after Napiers
book was published the English
mathematician Henry Briggs
collaborated with him to develop the
modern base 10 logarithm. Tables of
this logarithm and instructions for their
use were given in Briggs book
Arithmetica Logarithmica (1624). A
page from this work is shown on the
left.
Logarithms revolutionized scientific
calculations and effectively doubled the
life of the astronomer. (LaPlace)

Kepler and the Platonic Solids

Johannes Kepler
1571-1630
Keplers first attempt to describe
planetary orbits used a model of
nested regular polyhedra
(Platonic solids).

Keplers Laws of Planetary Motion

I. Law of Ellipses (1609)

The path of the planets about the sun are elliptical in shape, with the sun
at one of the focal points.
II. Law of Equal Areas (1609)
An imaginary line drawn from the center of the sun to the center of the
planet will sweep out equal areas in equal intervals of time.

III. Law of Harmonies (1618)

The ratio of the squares of the periods of any two planets is equal to the
ratio of the cubes of their average distances from the sun.

Newtons Principia Keplers Laws Proved

Isaac Newton
1642 - 1727
Newtons Principia Mathematica
(1687) presented, in the style of
Euclids Elements, a mathematical
theory for celestial motions due to the
force of gravity. The laws of Kepler
were proved in the sense that they
followed logically from a set of basic
postulates.

Newtons Calculus

Newton developed the main

ideas of his calculus in private
as a young man. This research
was closely connected to his
studies in physics. Many years
later he published his results to
establish priority for himself as
inventor the calculus.

Newtons Analysis Per

Quantitatum Series, Fluxiones,
Ac Differentias, 1711, describes
his calculus.

Leibnizs Calculus

Gottfied Leibniz
1646 - 1716
Leibniz and Newton independently
developed the calculus during the
same time period. Although Newtons
version of the calculus led him to his
great discoveries, Leibnizs concepts
and his style of notation form the
basis of modern calculus.

A diagram from Leibniz's famous

1684 article in the journal Acta
eruditorum.

Leonhard Euler

Leonhard Euler was of the generation that followed

Newton and Leibniz. He made contributions to
almost every field of mathematics and was the
most prolific mathematics writer of all time.
His trilogy, Introductio in analysin infinitorum,
Institutiones calculi differentialis, and Institutiones
calculi integralis made the function a central part of
calculus. Through these works, Euler had a deep
influence on the teaching of mathematics. It has
been said that all calculus textbooks since 1748
are essentially copies of Euler or copies of copies
of Euler.
Eulers writing standardized modern mathematics
notation with symbols such as:

f(x), e, , i and .

Leonhard Euler
1707 - 1783

Modern Period (1800 A.D. Present)

A. Non-Euclidean Geometry
Gauss, Lobachevsky, Riemann and others develop alternatives to Euclidean geometry
in the 19th century.
The new geometries inspire modern theories of higher dimensional spaces, gravitation,
space curvature and nuclear physics.

B. Set Theory
Cantor studies infinite sets and defines transfinite numbers
Set theory used as a theoretical foundation for all of mathematics
C. Statistics and Probability
Theories of probability and statistics are developed to solve numerous practical
applications, such as weather prediction, polls, medical studies etc.; they are also used
as a basis for nuclear physics

D. Computers
Development of electronic computer hardware and software solves many previously
unsolvable problems; opens new fields of mathematical research.

E. Mathematics as a World-Wide Language

The Hindu-Arabic numeration system and a common set of mathematical symbols are
used and understood throughout the world.
Mathematics expands into many branches and is created and shared world-wide at an
ever-expanding pace; it is now too large to be mastered by a single mathematician

Non-Euclidean Geometry

Nikolai Lobachevsky
1792 - 1856

Carl Gauss
1777 - 1855

Bernhard Riemann
1826 - 1866

In the 19th century Gauss, Lobachevsky, Riemann and other

mathematicians explored the possibility of alternative
geometries by modifying the 5th postulate of Euclids Elements.
This opened the door to greater abstraction in geometrical
thinking and expanded the ways in which scientists use
mathematics to model physical space.

Pioneers of Statistics

In the early 20th century

a group of English
mathematicians and
scientists developed
statistical techniques
that formed the basis
of contemporary
statistics.

Francis Galton
1822 - 1911

Karl Pearson
1857 - 1936

William Gosset
1876 - 1937

Ronald Fisher
1890- 1962

Gossetts Student t Curve

Diagram from the ground breaking 1908 article Probable

Error of the Mean by Student (William S. Gossett).

ENIAC: First Electronic Computer

In 1946 John W.
Mauchly and J.
Presper Eckert
Jr. built ENIAC at
the University of
Pennsylvania.
It weighed 30
tons, contained
18,000 vacuum
tubes and could
do 100,000
calculations per
second.

Von Neumann and the Theory of Computing

Von Neumann
Architecture

John von Neumann with Robert

Oppenheimer in front of the computer built
for the Institute of Advanced Studies in
Princeton, early 1950s.

Computer Generated Images

Equicontour Surface of a Random Function

Computer Generated Images

Evolution of a three dimensional cellular automata.

Current Branches of Mathematics

1. Foundations
Logic & Model Theory
Computability Theory & Recursion Theory
Set Theory
Category Theory
2. Algebra
Group Theory
Ring Theory
(includes elementary algebra)
Field Theory
Module Theory
Galois Theory
Number Theory
Combinatorics
Algebraic Geometry
3. Mathematical Analysis
Real Analysis & Measure Theory
(includes elementary Calculus)
Complex Analysis
Tensor & Vector Analysis
Differential & Integral Equations
Numerical Analysis
Functional Analysis & Theory of Functions

4. Geometry & Topology

Euclidean Geometry
NonEuclidean Geometry
Absolute Geometry
Metric Geometry
Projective Geometry
Affine Geometry
Discrete Geometry & Graph Theory
Differential Geometry
General Topology
Algebraic Topology
5. Applied Mathematics
Probability Theory
Statistics
Computer Science
Mathematical Physics
Game Theory
Systems & Control Theory