History of Mathematics Elle Pelly S256417 Assignment 2 EMA300

Prehistoric Mathematics In the Prehistoric times, the people would recognise that there was one item or more then one item however they did not recognise that this was considered to be Maths. There was no symbols or numbers used and rather just a general recognition that items existed in singular and multiple amounts. Eventually, there were symbols created for one item, two items or more then two items.

Prehistoric Mathematics A bone used as a tally stick from Central Africa roughly 20,00 years ago.

Sumer the ‘Cradle of Civilization’ Sumer was part of Mesopotamia and is now known as Iraq. It was considered to be the Cradle of Civilization largely because they developed writing systems such as the cuneiform which were written on clay wedges to communicate, agricultural innovations like the plow and the wheel. Sumer was the first documented country to show evidence of arithmetic and geometry.

Sumer the ‘Cradle of Civilisation’ Sumerian Clay Cones with evidence of arithmetic.

Egyptian Mathematics Egyptians developed Mathematics a step further then anyone else in history. They found techniques to measure and divide lands, they also developed a base number 10 system. This system created an ability to use larger numbers that you would not be able to count up to with the Maths symbols and words used at the time.

Egyptian Maths Hieroglyphic numerals

Greek Mathematics The Greeks would conquer many countries in historic times. Upon conquering a country, they would learn the ways of said country and then use it to further advance their own knowledge. As a result, they managed to make some of the most significant contributions in Maths history. The Greek numeric system had the ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers. The spent a great deal of their time focusing on geometry.

Greek Mathematics - Thales Thales founded an equitation, known as Thales Theorem which stated that a triangle found anywhere in a circle, will always have one right angle (point B) and two points (points A and C) would always equal the diameter of the triangle. This theorem is still greatly used today.

Greek Mathematics - Thales

Greek Mathematics - Pythagoras Pythagoras is mostly known for the ‘Pythagoras Theorem’ which is practiced in geometry today. The theorem states that “in a right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to [the sum of] the squares of the other two sides (Riedweg, Christoph, and Steven Rendall, 2005).”

Greek Mathematics - Pythagoras

What History has taught us? In my eyes, history has taught us the continuum in which we as educators, must teach Mathematics. In prehistoric times, the people had no number knowledge but rather just an understanding of one or more then one. As they became more advanced they then learned to apply marking to these numbers. When I think of an infant, I think of them recognizing that there is one person in the room, or more then one person. One toy, or more then one toy. As they grow into toddlerhood, they then begin to have an understanding that these items have a symbol. The symbols are numbers.

What has history taught us? Those numbers can go up to 20 by the end of their Foundation year in Primary School. They also use these numbers to add or subtract. The students learn to count up in 5s and 10s. Similarly, that is how history evolved. By year 6, the students have a much greater understanding of Mathematics. They are able to multiply and divide large numbers. They recognize and know the symbols of all the numbers. They have an understanding of numbers that is much greater then just the symbols and practice geometry and algebra.

What has history taught us? The way the history of Maths evolved is the same way in which our teaching/learning evolves. We must remember that young children are like prehistoric people, they only have the most basic of understanding of numbers, they then progress through schooling and scaffold their knowledge. If a student is struggling with addition, it is important to take a step back and assess if they have an understanding of numbers, can they recognize those numbers out of order? A student cannot move onto the next Maths skill without first grasping the skill before that.

References Mastin, L. (2010). The Story of Mathematics. Retrieved 02 10, 2017, from Egyptian Mathematics: http://www.storyofmathematics.com/egyptian.html Mastin, L. (2010). The Story of Mathematics. Retrieved 02 10, 2017, from Greek Mathematics: http://www.storyofmathematics.com/greek.html Mastin, L. (2010). The Story of Mathematics. Retrieved 02 10, 2017, from Prehistoric Mathematics: http://www.storyofmathematics.com/prehistoric.html Mastin, L. (2010). The Story of Mathematics. Retrieved 02 10, 2017, from Sumerian/Babylonian Mathematics: http://www.storyofmathematics.com/sumerian.html Pi TV. (2016, 07 10). Thales’ theorem proof. Retrieved 02 13, 2017, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y64oWtoECE Riedweg, Christoph, and Steven Rendall. Pythagoras, edited by Christoph Riedweg, and Steven Rendall, Cornell University Press, 2005. ProQuest Ebook Central, .Created from cdu on 2017-02-13 18:05:38. Image retrieved from http://classicalwisdom.com/wp- content/uploads/2013/06/pythagoras-bust.jpg