history of mathematics

The knowledge of mankind’s use of Mathematics comes from the Babylonians and Egyptians which later adopted and improved by the Greeks. Babylonia was considered one of the ancient civilizations were agricultural advancement originated. Just like Egyptian mathematics, Babylonian mathematics was practiced to address the need of their society. Mathematics was used in irrigation, industrial works such as weaving, metal works, masonry, pottery, and to build homes and temple decorated with mosaics in geometric patterns. It was also used in the proper execution of their tax laws, to measure their lands and even in making dice for their leisure games. There are also evidences which show that they were able to develop a complex system in Metrology. In terms of level of difficulty, the uses of their Math might be thought as very elementary compared to Mathematics of today, but their astronomical application had achieved a level comparable to that of the Greeks. Sumerians and Babylonians made astonishing mathematical advancement whey they succeeded to make a sophisticated lunar calendar. Babylonians also developed other revolutionary mathematical concepts. Although, Pythagorean Theorem is attributed to Greek mathematician “Pythagoras”, the known and controversial Plimpton 322, a tablet formed out of clay, shows that long before Pythagoras, Babylonians knew the secret of the right-angled triangles. Other interesting contributions of Babylonians to our modern civilization include the use of number zero and the use of a 12 hour clock with 60 minutes per hour. Their sexagesimal number system helps the society of today in developing a 360 degree system. The use of standards in measuring lengths, weights, and volumes were also contributed by Ba...

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... possessed clarity and certainty, their concept of proof was not clear and uncertain. With regards to practice, Babylonian and Egyptian mathematics is generally utilitarian in nature. In the Greek Mathematics, the difference between geometry and algebra is clear, while Babylonians had just an algebraic point of view. There were also operations prohibited in Greeks but allowed to the others. But despite the insufficiency of Babylonian and Egyptian Mathematics, these were also considered an advanced mathematics, and if Babylonian and Egyptian math were not as sophisticated as that of the Greeks, it cannot be denied that it had contributed the ways in which Greek mathematics was refined and used more efficiently in a wide range of practical applications which still relevant today and the ways in which the Greek had able to build the foundation for modern Mathematics.