MODULE 1.

HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS

Subject: GEC104 (Mathematics in the Modern World)

Module 1
Lesson Title: History of Mathematics (3 Hrs)

Lesson Objectives: At the end of this chapter, the student is expected to

1. discuss the development of mathematics from ancient times to the present
2. develop an appreciation for modern mathematics as a product of the contribution of different ages,
cultures, and individual mathematicians

Overview/Introduction:

The Mathematics that we know in the modern world has its roots in ancient Mesopotamia,
Egypt and Babylonia. Then it was developed in Greece, and simultaneously in China and in India.
This ancient Greek mathematics, along with some influence of Hindu mathematics spread to the
neighboring countries in the Middle East. It was translated into Arabic and Latin and was adopted by
Western Europe. Western education was spread throughout the world by colonization and trade.
Today’s Mathematics has been enriched by the contributions of different civilizations and individual
mathematicians who unselfishly passed on their discoveries and knowledge to us. It is therefore
fitting for us to look back and appreciate how Mathematics have developed and who made these
developments possible

Activity:

Watch video on The History of Mathematics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy-8lPVKLIo&t=17s

Analysis:

1. What interesting facts have you learned from the video?

2. What is the importance of these facts to the development of modern mathematics?

Abstraction:

History of Mathematics Overview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGuhGlKOc0

Development of Mathematics from ancient times to the present:

4000-3000 B.C.E. Sumerians (from Sumer, a region of Mesopotamia) were the first
people to assign symbols to group of objects to represent numbers.
They developed the earliest known writing system, a pictographic
writing system known as cuneiform script.

3000 B.C.E. The Egyptians were the first people to develop a numerical system
that was based on the number 10. Hieroglyphic Numerals developed in
Egypt.

2400 B.C.E. Babylonians in Mesopotamia used the Sexagesimal System (base

60).

300 B.C.E The major Greek progress in mathematics was from 300 BC to 200

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AD. During this era, Euclid wrote the Elements, a compilation of

theorems, axioms in Algebra and postulates and theorems in
Geometry. With this, he gained the title, “Father of Geometry”.

200 B.C.E. Archimedes of Syracuse, a Greek mathematician, physicist, inventor

and astronomer derived a range of formulas in Geometry including the

area of a circle, the surface area and volume of a sphere and the area
under a parabola.

140 B.C.E. Trigonometry of Hipparchus developed. Hipparchus of Nicaea was a

Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician considered as the
founder of trigonometry. 

775 C.E. Hindu mathematical works were translated into Arabic.

830 C.E. Arabic Algebra and Indian numerals came to Western Europe through
the writings of Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi. Other Arabic
scholars also cultivated Greek mathematics translating the writings of
Apollonius, Archimedes, Euclid, Ptolemy, etc. into Arabic.

1202 C.E. Leonardo of Pisa, also called Fibonacci, wrote Liber Abaci, a book filled
with arithmetical and algebraic information which he had collected
during his travels. This was one of the means by which the Hindu-
Arabic System of Numeration was introduced into Western Europe.
The best known contribution of Hindu mathematics to modern
mathematics was the decimal position system. They also introduced
the number zero in mathematics. For the first time in human history, the
concept of “nothing” was symbolized by a number.

1489 C.E. Johannes Widmann was a German mathematician. The + and -

symbols first appeared in print in his book Mercantile Arithmetic
published in Leipzig in 1489 in reference to surpluses and deficits in
business problems.

17th Century The 17th Century saw John Napier, and others greatly extend the power
of mathematics as a calculatory science with his discovery of
logarithms. 

1629 C.E. Pierre de Fermat was a French lawyer and a mathematician who is
given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus.
Fermat, together with Pascal, began the mathematical study of
probability.

Blaise Pascal laid the foundations of the Probability Theory together

with Fermat.
He invented the Pascaline, an early mechanical calculator,
He is also known for the Pascal’s Triangle, a tool for expanding a
binomial (a+b)n

Rene Descartes was another notable mathematician of the 17 th

century. He invented the Cartesian coordinate system, developed
analytic geometry and laid the foundation for the development of
calculus.

1684 C.E. Leibniz’ first paper on the calculus was published. Gottfried Leibniz
discovered infinitesimal calculus, along with Sir Isaac Newton.

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 MODULE 1. HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS
However, each one made this discovery alone, not while working
together.

18th – 19th Century  The most important mathematician of the 18 th Century was Leonhard
Euler  who, in addition to work in a wide range of mathematical areas,
started the Graph Theory, the Calculus of Variations and Differential
Geometry. 

Carl Friedrich Gauss German mathematician, generally regarded as

one of the greatest mathematicians of all time for his contributions
to number theory, geometry, probability theory, planetary, and the
theory of functions. In 1799, he proved the Fundamental Theorem of
Algebra.

Toward the end of the 18 th Century, an Italian mathematician, Joseph

Louie Lagrange  began a rigorous theory of functions and of
mechanics. He also played a key role in the creation of the Metric
system of weights and measures.

John Venn Introduced Venn Diagram in 1874. This became a useful

tool in Set Theory.

20th Century

1975 C.E. Benoit Mandelbrot’s introduced the theory of fractals. He published The
Fractal Geometry of Nature in 1982.

1994 C.E. Andrew Wiles proved Fermat’s Last Theorem

2000 C.E. Mathematical challenges of the 21st Century announced

Application:

Identify seven works of mathematicians which we use in the present time. (Discuss this with
your group)

Assessment:

Take the quiz on Moodle.

SY 2020-2021 | GEC104 Module 1 | History of Mathematics 3