History
There has long been a standard account of the development of geometry in ancient Egypt, followed by Greek mathematics and the emergence of deductive logic. The modern sense of the term mathematics, as meaning only those systems justified with reference to axioms, is however an anachronism if read back into history. Several ancient societies built impressive mathematical systems and carried out complex calculations based on proofless heuristics and practical approaches. Mathematical facts were accepted on a pragmatic basis. Empirical methods, as in science, provided the justification for a given technique. Commerce, engineering, calendar creation and the prediction of eclipses and stellar progression were practiced by ancient cultures on at least three continents.
Read more about this topic: Informal Mathematics
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“If man is reduced to being nothing but a character in history, he has no other choice but to subside into the sound and fury of a completely irrational history or to endow history with the form of human reason.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“At present cats have more purchasing power and influence than the poor of this planet. Accidents of geography and colonial history should no longer determine who gets the fish.”
—Derek Wall (b. 1965)
“The only history is a mere question of one’s struggle inside oneself. But that is the joy of it. One need neither discover Americas nor conquer nations, and yet one has as great a work as Columbus or Alexander, to do.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)