Mathematics originates from human production activities, so there is mathematics where there are human activities at the earliest.
Ancient Egyptian mathematics
Egypt is one of the most culturally developed regions in the world, located on both sides of the Nile, and formed a unified country around 3200 BC. The Nile regularly floods and floods all the valleys. When the water recedes, it is necessary to re-measure the cultivated area of residents. Because of this need, the geodesic knowledge accumulated for many years has gradually developed into geometry.
After 2900 BC, the Egyptians built many pyramids as tombs for pharaohs. As can be seen from the structure of the pyramids, the Egyptians at that time knew a lot about astronomy and geometry. For example, the deviation between the right angles on both sides of the bottom and true north is very small.
Today's understanding of ancient Egyptian mathematics is mainly based on two rolls of cursive script written in Mongolian; One is in London, called rhind papyrus, and the other is in Moscow.
Babylonian mathematics
Generally speaking, the culture from19th century BC to 6th century BC is Babylonian culture, and the corresponding mathematics belongs to Babylonian mathematics. The mathematical tradition in this field can be traced back to Sumerian culture around 2000 BC, and then back to the founding period of Christianity in 1 century.
The understanding of Babylonian mathematics is based on1cuneiform clay tablets excavated in the early 9th century. About 300 pieces are pure mathematics, of which about 200 pieces are various tables, including multiplication tables, reciprocal tables, square and cubic tables, etc.
Indian mathematics
The origin of Indian mathematics, like other ancient peoples, is based on the actual needs of production. However, there is a special factor in the development of Indian mathematics, that is, its mathematics, like the calendar, has been fully developed under the influence of Brahman rituals.
Coupled with the exchange of Buddhism and trade, Indian mathematics and mathematics in the Near East, especially in China, are advancing in mutual integration and promotion. In addition, the development of mathematics in India has always been closely related to astronomy, and most mathematical works have been published in some chapters of astronomical works.
China Mathematics
At the end of primitive commune, after the germination of ancient mathematics in China, private ownership and commodity exchange appeared, the concepts of number and shape were further developed. The pottery unearthed during Yangshao culture period has been engraved with the symbol representing 1234. By the end of the primitive commune, written symbols had begun to replace knotted notes.
Pottery unearthed in Xi 'an Banpo has an equilateral triangle composed of 1 ~ 8 dots, and a pattern of 100 small squares divided into squares. The houses in Banpo site are all round and square. In order to draw circles and determine straightness, people have also created drawing and measuring tools such as rulers, moments, rulers and ropes. According to Records of Historical Records Xia Benji, Yu Xia used these tools in water conservancy.
Extended data:
Aristotle defined mathematics as "quantitative science", which lasted until18th century. /kloc-since the 0/9th century, mathematical research has become more and more rigorous, and it has begun to involve abstract topics such as group theory and projection geometry that have no clear relationship with quantity and measurement. Mathematicians and philosophers have begun to put forward various new definitions.
Some of these definitions emphasize the deductive nature of a lot of mathematics, some emphasize its abstraction, and some emphasize some themes in mathematics. Even among professionals, the definition of mathematics has not been reached. Whether mathematics is an art or a science has not even been decided. Many professional mathematicians are not interested in the definition of mathematics or think it is undefined. Some just said, "Mathematics is done by mathematicians."
The three main mathematical definitions are called logicians, intuitionists and formalists, each of which reflects a different school of philosophical thought. Everyone has serious problems, no one generally accepts it, and no reconciliation seems feasible.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-mathematics