Friday, January 17, 2014

The Story of Maths: The Frontiers of Space

Some famous mathematicians..

          Our world consists of mathematical treasures since mathematics has really spread and colonized all parts of the world because of the different mathematicians who introduced their contributions for the development of the world using mathematical insights. One of the mathematicians in Italy was Piero della Francesca, a Renaissance artist, he combined his masterpieces of art and mathematics, which brought the world to another phase of mathematics. He used the perspective of math and emerged it with his arts to create a new perception in geometry. Europe continued the evolution of mathematics from the Middle East but they were using math to understand more about the objects in motion or the application of math in physics.

            Another mathematician named Descartes used his philosophical, scientific and mathematical ideas in creating his radical ideas. He then merged algebra and geometry to obtain formulas and figures that linked both of them. There are equations which uses both math and geometry to identify the right value for each problem. His insights between math and geometry transformed mathematical revolution. Marin Mersenne was a mathematician who also linked math and science; he encouraged people to read and understand Descartes involvement in geometry. After that, another mathematician showed up named Pierre de Fermat who contributed the modern number theory and found some new patterns in number, like the patterns he saw in prime numbers. And that is when you add two squared numbers the answer will always be a prime number. He also discovered the Little Theorem which protects the codes of credit cards since we are now relying on the technology.

A great mathematician came from Britain, where new methods of measurements boost the development of mathematics. He was Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered the gravity and the Laws of Motion then he applied these laws to solve calculus which has a relationship with speed and distance. His theories helped us understand the moving world. A new mathematician had the same idea as his and he was Gottfried Leibniz from Germany. He was also one of the people who invented practical calculating machines on computers using binary system, worked with the details of calculus.

The movie also told about the great dynasty of mathematicians which are the Bernoullis and the Eulers. Their ancestors had studied the calculus of variations and Fermat’s theory of numbers since they were a fan of Leibniz. Eulers developed several theories in prime numbers, optics, astronomy and music. Then later on, a lot of mathematicians created their own theories that contributed to the present technologies. But one man whom they called as the Prince of Mathematics, Carl Friedrich Gauss. He was one of the amazing mathematicians of all times because he was already criticizing Euclid’s geometry, had found a new pattern of prime numbers and discovered the construction of a 17-sided figure when he was young. He was one of the great mathematicians in Gottingen but not known in other places. 

Now, the imaginary number or the square root of negative one discovered by Gauss had solved equations and helped us understand the different applications brought by this number. Another was that he wanted to discover the shape of space. These mathematicians were very helpful because they created the formulas, theories and mathematical applications that increased the development of a new world in mathematics. I really appreciate the efforts of the mathematicians because they dedicated their life in solving mathematical problems. And there are still many other different mathematicians around the world that can discover new methods for the future.

As a student, I admired their hard work and dedications in getting the precise answers needed in a given problem. Using their theorems, we can now solve equations without having the hard time as they did during their time, like spending years to create a formula for a certain problem. Learn to appreciate new things because that might be one of the key to one’s success in life. So never stop learning and keep on moving forward. 

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