Last Updated on Friday, 23 September 2011 15:01 Friday, 16 September 2011 11:39
MATH: In the Beginning
by Katrina Del Rosario
Many of us upon hearing the mere mention of math, cringe as if it were a death threat. But really, math itself is not the problem. It is rather the bad memories, early school trauma, and hours of frustration working with numbers and finding a solution to a difficult equation in one of our math classes that haunt us. Unfortunately, these associations end up with embitterment to the point of sorely resenting whoever it is who invented math in the first place.
Origins
In truth, math is a necessity. The earliest beginnings of math came from an instinctual need of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, whose daily lives revolved around surviving. This means knowing if you have enough bananas to keep yourself alive.
One banana, two banana, three…I get to live another day!
From www.elated.com
The first mathematical concepts were developed way before our species were even properly evolved (ergo, our present state). Hominids have left behind stone tools with geometric frameworks, something that could be seen as equivalent to Euclidian space.
And then some 300,000 years before our time, makers of the first known cave painting left behind parallel lines, geometric signs, and accurate profile projections of animals they encountered, all with the correct dimensions. And this is all slathered methodically across cave walls.
And how many of you can’t even draw a proper chicken?
From beccblog33.blogspot.com
The Ishango Bone
From www.math.buffalo.edu
This 11,000 year old baboon femur bone from the Congo region has incisions on its three edges, notches in groups of 11, 21, 19, 9 and then 3, 6 and then a gap 4, 8 another gap 10, 5, 5, 7 and on the third edge, 11, 13, 17, 19. According to recent studies, these notches seem to be early experiments in addition, subtraction and division. That means as early as 11,000 years ago, primitives already had a certain grasp of basic mathematical concepts.
Math and the Ancient Egyptians
When we look back at history, Ancient Egypt is one of the most mystifying in the ancient world. And boy, did those Egyptians love math.
The Ancient Egyptians’ love for numbers was encouraged by their constant need to measure and remeasure their fields and their ambitiously massive construction projects that required, of course, an equally monstrous amount of computation.
In short, Math gave us the pyramids!
From www.ancientworldwonders.com
The importance of numbers was so intense that they were given attributions of otherworldly significance and, intangible as they are, received equal footing as the gods. The ancient Egyptians also believed that mastering math would help them come closer to unlocking a greater power. Now, whatever that great power was for them, we know of one thing: the ancient Egyptians' expertise with numbers made them one of the most powerful civilizations in the ancient world.
You get all this by mastering math!
From www.destination360.com
Still feel the same way about math now? Yes? (Really?) No? (Good!) Anyhow, we're sure you'll toss that grudge with math over your shoulder after you watch this. Power awaits!
References/ Works Cited:
“History of Mathematics.” www.wikipedia.org. Wikimedia Foundation Inc., 9 August 2011. Web. 12 August 2011.
Aleff, Peter H. “Ancient Stories Told by the Numbers.” www.recoveredscience.com. H. Peter Aleff, n.d. Web. 16 August 2011.
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