Cusp of Greatness: The Men of the Hour

     
      From the ancient lands of Egypt and Greece, to the soaring heights of Asia, now we cross lands to journey the borders of Europe as we embrace its influence to the development of mathematics…

     For the third installment of the Story of Maths, Oxford Professor Marcus du Sautoy turned the spotlight on Europe as he unfurled the Golden Age of Mathematics and discovered great mathematical ideas that renovate the interest of Europeans towards mathematics. European minds that shape the development of math in motion and to The Frontiers of Space.

     His first passage took in the town of Albino in Northern Italy, where he met the first major painter to fully understand perspective—Pierro della Franchesca. Franchesca is famous for making The Flagellation of Christ, in which it is considered as his oldest work. Though it is one of the most prominent and controversial pictures of the early Renaissance, what made it essential is that it is marked with geometric solemnity.  His passion in the study of perspective is eminent in all of his masterpieces, and with that he inspired lots of painters by teaching the world the principle of perspectives, allowing them to overview real images in 3D at certain point and distance; contributing significance in the world of art through the aid of mathematical geometry.

    Now, du Sautoy headed France, where he came across one of the brightest mathematicians of all time, Rene Descartes. Descartes is famous for his contribution of the Cartesian coordinate system and his exceptional fondness of fusing algebra and geometry together, dubbing him as the father of analytical geometry. However, one thing that struck me was his meditation hobby or simply his habit of lying on his bed. I thought mathematicians only studied at desks or somewhere at the corner of the room. But him? Uh-oh. I guess studying at tables for him were too mainstream. Though maybe someday I can think math in a deeper way since I, too love to stay in bed (Hopeless, ambitious frog). Moving on, du Sautoy also encountered Pierre de Fermat, a mathematician who virtually invented the modern number theory and Fermat’s principle, which is obviously named after him. Like Descartes, he is also a pioneer in analytical geometry. But aside from that, he’s one of the founders of probability theory alongside with Blaise Pascal.

     So now, the transition goes to the land of the monarchs—England, where we’ve met one of the most influential scientists of all time—Sir Isaac Newton. Although he was widely known for his applications in physics and gravitation, this small boy managed to discover calculus that later created a stir between Leibniz and him. His undoubted talent in both fields of physics and mathematics just proved that both worlds can be viewed as one. With that, he left a great contribution to the world.

     Now let’s take a look in some parts of Europe, where there rose brilliant minds such as Leonhard Euler and the Bernoulli’s of Switzerland, Germany’s Gottfried Leibniz, Karl Gauss or Bernhard Riemann and even Janos Bolyai of Transylvania. These mathematicians branded the world with exceptionally complex ideas of geometry, arithmetic and calculus.

    Euler is known for his mathematical notation, while the Bernoulli’s are for their development of calculus to solve classic problems of a day and for producing almost half a dozen outstanding mathematicians. Also, Leibniz’ more favorable and thorough concept of calculus, Prince of Mathematics’ Gauss for his construction of the 7^th figure and patterns on prime numbers, and Bolyai’s depressing success of creating a treatise on a complete non-Euclidean geometry. Lastly, German decent Bernhard Riemann’s foundations of geometry and its relationship to the world had made such an impact that lead to the creation of Riemannian geometry, in which it has the correct way of extending the differential geometry of surfaces to n dimensions.

     In this segment of the Story of Maths, it’s not just an-invent-discovery cliche that would somehow affect the progress of the future, but indeed this is something that involved more to the birth and development of the technology of the modern world. That is, the original blue print behind those astonishing skyscrapers, gigantic marbled buildings or even the flawless touch of an architect to construct a house. It’s just amazing how mathematics had been able to cope to the needs of arts. How peculiar for such a mathematician to come up in an idea that would lead to the polishing of the edges of arts. Indeed, this is something we can ponder upon among other things, a great tool to look back history and to move forward into a bright future.