History of mathematics
The history of mathematics is how mathematics has developed over time.
Early history
Early mathematics developed independently in several ancient civilizations. The Babylonians and Egyptians laid the foundations of arithmetic, geometry, and measurement, which were later expanded by Greek mathematicians such as Euclid, Archimedes, Pythagoras, and Eratosthenes, who formalized mathematics through logical proofs and axiomatic systems.
At the same time, Indian mathematicians made profound and original contributions. Aryabhata introduced advanced trigonometry and accurate astronomical calculations; Brahmagupta formalized rules for zero and negative numbers; and Bhaskara II developed early ideas related to calculus and algebra. India also gave the world the decimal place-value system and the concept of zero, which later spread to the Islamic world and Europe.
Medieval and early modern mathematics was further advanced by figures such as Fibonacci, who introduced Hindu–Arabic numerals to Europe, René Descartes, who founded coordinate geometry, Leonhard Euler, Blaise Pascal, and Carl Friedrich Gauss, whose work shaped modern mathematics.
20th century
Women in mathematics
Problems
Many mathematical problems have been proposed and solved. Andrew Wiles became famous by proving the Fermat's Last Theorem.
World War II
Some mathematical works had relation with the war. British mathematician Alan Turing created the Enigma machine to uncode Nazi codes. On the other hand, several mathematicians like John von Neumann worked on the Manhattan Project.
History Of Mathematics Media
Geometry problem on a clay tablet belonging to a school for scribes; Susa, first half of the 2nd millennium BC
Image of Problem 14 from the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus. The problem includes a diagram indicating the dimensions of the truncated pyramid.
The Pythagorean theorem. The Pythagoreans are generally credited with the first proof of the theorem.
One of the oldest surviving fragments of Euclid's Elements, found at Oxyrhynchus and dated to circa AD 100. The diagram accompanies Book II, Proposition 5.
Archimedes used the method of exhaustion to approximate the value of pi.
Apollonius of Perga made significant advances in the study of conic sections.
Title page of the 1621 edition of Diophantus' Arithmetica, translated into Latin by Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac
The Hagia Sophia was designed by mathematicians Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus.
