Mathematics and Architecture in Europe (The Story of Math 3)

When I first saw the video, I was more attracted with the beautiful archeological designs of the buildings and the beautiful natural scenery almost everywhere. Of course, I haven’t been to Europe and so the video initially served as my “tour guide” to what a part of this continent actually looked like. Everything looked so well-placed, well-planned, and well-made. Europe looked to me like a different place, a different world with a lot of people dressing so chic and elegant. I was actually more fascinated with the people walking all over the place, how they looked, and the beautiful buildings around.

That was why, somehow at first I got pissed off with the narrator because he was being a kill joy discussing about the numbers and the nerdy stuff when all the beauty is actually laid in front of him to enjoy. There was a time I remember he asked random people on the street about this famous mathematician/thinker and no one, like, not a single soul, knew about this European mathematician. They said they haven’t heard that name before and actually neither have I. It became evident for me that most of the modern people don’t care much about the famous people of the past and their contributions to mathematics. The people of today still go on living without the knowledge about who invented or who discovered what.

But as the video went playing on, I realized the connections the narrator made between the archeological designs that I first appreciated and the mathematics that he kept on talking about. In Europe, at least in the places he came to visit, the buildings and their unique designs are all proofs of how modern and edgy the mathematics of Europeans actually is. It is important to note how they had a different way of applying mathematics around them.

In the ancient civilization, they used mathematics for their own livelihood, agriculture, etc. but towards modernity, we see a gradual change and evolution with how mathematics is being perceived. In Europe, it is quite obvious. The arches, bizarre-looking statues, and the sturdy high columns in their buildings are all part of how they made use of their knowledge of mathematics. Without math, they wouldn’t be able to make beautiful and long-lasting buildings such as those. Perhaps during the time that they were constructing it, they weren’t aware that mathematics actually played a huge role in what they were doing. But through time, their descendants would have a proper and more studied claim that every stroke and every arch they put and designed in their buildings is thanks to mathematics.