History and Mathematics
The following are web links to various historical mathematical perspectives. They are all taken from the University of St. Andrews' School of Mathematics and Statistics. There is additional information on the site beyond the pages linked below, so if you wanted to explore further, you can.
Keep in mind the following questions as you examine the different perspectives and approaches:
The following are web links to various historical mathematical perspectives. They are all taken from the University of St. Andrews' School of Mathematics and Statistics. There is additional information on the site beyond the pages linked below, so if you wanted to explore further, you can.
Keep in mind the following questions as you examine the different perspectives and approaches:
- Can mathematics be characterized as a universal language?
- To what extent is mathematics a product of human social interaction?
- We can use mathematics successfully to model real-world processes. Is this because the world is intrinsically mathematical?
- Some major advances in physics, for example, discoveries of elementary particles, have come about through arguments involving beauty, elegance or symmetry of the underlying mathematics. What does this tell us about the relationship between the natural sciences, mathematics and the natural world?
- Is mathematics better defined by its method or by its subject matter?
- In the light of the above questions, is mathematics invented or discovered?
- Mathematicians marvel at some of the deep connections between disparate parts of their subject. Is this evidence for a simple underlying mathematical reality?