Mathematics, which originated from the early production activities of human beings, is one of the six great arts in ancient China, and is also regarded as the starting point of philosophy by ancient Greek scholars. (mathematikós) means "the basis of learning", which comes from μ? θξμα(máthema) ("science, knowledge and learning").

The evolution of mathematics can be regarded as the continuous development of abstraction, or the extension of subject matter. The first abstract concept is probably number, and its cognition that two apples and two oranges have something in common is a great breakthrough in human thought. In addition to knowing how to calculate the number of actual substances, prehistoric humans also learned how to calculate the number of abstract substances, such as time-date, season and year. Arithmetic (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) also came into being naturally.

In addition, writing or other systems that can record numbers are needed, such as Mu Fu or chips used by the Inca Empire to store data. There are many different counting systems in history.

Since the historical era, the main principles in mathematics have been formed, which are used for tax and trade calculation, for understanding the relationship between numbers, for measuring land, and for predicting astronomical events. These needs can be simply summarized as the study of quantity, structure, space and time in mathematics.

By16th century, elementary mathematics such as arithmetic, elementary algebra and trigonometry were basically complete. The appearance of the concept of variables in the17th century made people begin to study the relationship between variables and the mutual transformation between graphs. In the process of studying classical mechanics, the method of calculus was invented. With the further development of natural science and technology, set theory and mathematical logic for studying the basis of mathematics began to develop slowly.

Mathematics has been expanding from ancient times to the present, and it has a rich interaction with science, and both of them have benefited a lot. Mathematics has made many discoveries in history and is still being discovered today. According to Mikhail B.Sevryuk's record in the Journal of the American Mathematical Society from June, 5438 to October, 2006, "Since 1940 (the year when mathematical reviews were first published), the number of existing papers and books in the database of mathematical reviews has now exceeded1900,000. Most of this learning sea is a new mathematical theorem and its proof. "

Famous mathematician:

Gauss

Gauss is a German mathematician, physicist and astronomer. Since his birth, Gauss has been very curious about all phenomena and things, and he is determined to find out. Gauss went to school for the first time at the age of seven. A story widely circulated all over the world said that Gauss worked out the sum of 1 to 10, which was given to students by Butner at the age of 10. Butner gave the children a difficult addition problem: 81297+81495+81693+…+100899. After that, Gauss also finished the calculation, and handed in the slate and the answer together. Only his answer was correct at that time. Mathematical historians tend to think that Gauss had mastered arithmetic progression's summation method at that time. For a child as young as 10, it is unusual to discover this mathematical method independently. Gauss's academic position has always been highly respected. He has the reputation of "prince of mathematics" and "king of mathematicians".

newton

Newton was an English physicist and mathematician. At school, Newton is an eccentric boy. He likes to design and make kites, sundials and water drops by himself. He is curious about everything around him, but he doesn't seem particularly clever. Later, his family asked him to drop out of school and go to his mother's farm to help. On his mother's farm, he saw an apple fall to the ground and began to wonder. Can this force that pulls apples down also control the moon? Newton deduced from this that the rate of change of the falling speed of an object is directly proportional to the gravity, and the gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the center of the earth. Later, Newton's prism experiment made him famous. Newton has two famous sayings. He wrote in the letter: "If I see farther than others, it is because I stand on the shoulders of giants." It is said that he also said: "But in my opinion, I am just a child playing by the sea, and I am happy to find a smooth pebble or a shell more beautiful than others from time to time, and the vast ocean of truth in front of me is still a complete mystery.

Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (/KOOC-0/July 646/KOOC-0/~/KOOC-0/7/KOOC-0/June 6/KOOC-0/year/KOOC-0/October/KOOC-0) Newton (1643, 65438+1October 4th-65438+March 3rd10727) is a rare scientific genius in the world, and he is the founder of calculus. He read widely and dabbled in encyclopedias, making indelible contributions to enriching the treasure house of human scientific knowledge.