1, the scientific significance of mathematical history:
Mathematical science has a long history. Compared with natural science, mathematics is an accumulative science, and its concepts and methods are more continuous. For example, the decimal notation and four arithmetic rules formed in ancient civilization are still in use today, and mathematical traditions and historical materials can be developed in practical mathematical research.
2. Cultural significance of the history of mathematics.
Mathematics is not only a method, an art or a language, but also a rich knowledge system. Mathematics has widely influenced human life and thought, and is the main force to form modern culture. Therefore, the history of mathematics reflects the history of human culture from one side and is the most important part of the history of human civilization.
3. Educational significance of the history of mathematics.
Mathematics textbooks have been compiled repeatedly under the guidance of the principle of combining science with educational requirements. It is a knowledge system that compiles historical mathematical data according to certain logical structure and learning requirements, and inevitably abandons the actual background, knowledge background, evolution process and various factors that lead to its evolution of many mathematical concepts and methods.
Therefore, it is difficult to obtain the original appearance and panorama of mathematics only by studying mathematics textbooks, while ignoring those mathematical materials and methods that have been eliminated by history but may be useful to real science, and the best way to make up for this deficiency is to study the history of mathematics.
Extended data
The task of studying the history of mathematics is to find out the basic historical facts in the development of mathematics, reproduce its original features, and make scientific and reasonable explanations, explanations and evaluations on mathematical achievements, theoretical systems and development models through these historical phenomena, so as to explore the laws and cultural essence of the development of mathematical science.
As the basic methods and means to study the history of mathematics, there are often historical textual research, mathematical analysis, comparative research and other methods.
The study of the history of mathematics should not only follow the laws of history, but also follow the laws of mathematical science. According to this feature, mathematical analysis can be used as a special auxiliary means in the study of mathematical history. In the absence or lack of historical data, we can analyze the contents and methods of ancient mathematics from the height of modern mathematics, so as to trace the source, summarize the theory and put forward historical hypothesis. Mathematical analysis is actually a connection between "ancient" and "present".
Baidu Encyclopedia-History of Mathematics (Research History)