What is Mathematics?

Mathematics is the product of many lands and it belongs to the whole of mankind. We
know how necessary it was even for the early people to learn to count and to become familiar
with mathematical ideas, processes and facts. In the course of time, counting led to arithmetic
and measuring led to geometry. Arithmetic is the study of number, while geometry is the study
of shape, size and position. These two subjects are regarded as the foundations of mathematics.
It is impossible to give a concise definition of mathematics as it is a multifield subject.
Mathematics in the broad sense of the word is a peculiar form of the general process of human
cognition of the real world. It deals with the space forms and quantity relations abstracted from
the physical world.
Contemporary mathematics is a mixture of much that is very old and still important (e.
g., counting, the Pythagorean theorem) with new concepts such as sets, axiomatics, structure.
The totality of all abstract mathematical sciences is called Pure Mathematics. The totality of all
concrete interpretations is called Applied Mathematics. Together they constitute Mathematics
as a science.
One of the modern definitions of mathematics runs as follows: mathematics is the study
of relationships among quantities, magnitudes, and properties of logical operations by which
unknown quantities, magnitudes and properties may be deduced.
In the past, mathematics was regarded as the science of quantity, whether of
magnitudes, as in geometry, or of numbers, as in arithmetic, or the generalization of these two
fields, as in algebra. Toward the middle of the 19th century, however, mathematics came to be
regarded increasingly as the science of relations, or as the science that draws necessary
conclusions. The latter view encompasses mathematical or symbolic logic, the science of using
symbols to provide an exact theory of logical deduction and inference based on definitions,
axioms, postulates, and rules for combining and transforming positive elements into more
complex relations and theorems.
Phonetics 1. Read the following words according to the transcription.
Processes Algebra Geometry Cognition
deduce encompass symbolic deduction
inference postulate axiom theorem

Text Comprehension - 2. Complete the following sentences

1. Contemporary mathematics is a mixture of …

2. In the past, mathematics was regarded as …
3. Toward the middle of the 19th century, mathematics …
4. Mathematics deals with the space forms and quantity relations …
5. Arithmetic is the study of …
6. Geometry is the study of …
7. Mathematics is the product of …
8. One of the modern definitions of mathematics …

3. Answer the following questions.

1. What two subjects did counting lead to?

2. What is mathematics in the broad sense of the word?
3. What does it deal with?
4. What is Pure Mathematics?
5. How is Applied Mathematics defined?
6. What is one of the modern definitions of mathematics?
7. How was mathematics interpreted in the past?
8. What is it considered to be now?