GEd 102 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

Module 1: The Nature of Mathematics

Lesson 1.1
The Mathematics of Our World

Romer C. Castillo, Ph.D.

Associate Professor I
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THE MATHEMATICS OF OUR WORLD

Specific Objectives
1. To understand the mathematics of the modern world
2. To revisit and appreciate the mathematical landscape
3. To realize the importance of mathematics as a utility
4. To gain awareness of the role of mathematics as well as
our role in mathematics

This lesson does not only attempt to explain the

essence of mathematics but also serve as a
hindsight of the course. The backbone of this lesson
draws from Stewart’s ideas embodied in his book,
Nature’s Numbers.
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Different Perspectives
The Elephant and the Six Blind Men

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=perspectives+in+mathematics&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjyh
tjRxeDTAhXEgbwKHdkxDrkQ_AUIBigB&biw
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Different Perspectives

https://www.pinterest.com/coatastic/illusions-and-ambiguous-images/
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Different Perspectives

https://www.pinterest.com/coatastic/illusions-and-ambiguous-images/
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What is Mathematics
• It is all about the unbelievable patterns of numbers
formed by nature and of the universe.
• It is all about language in different forms like patterns,
shapes, music and so on.
• It is all about what our eyes can see, what our ears can
hear and even what we can perceive in our physical
environment.
• It is a formal system of thought, which was gradually
developed by the human mind and culture, for
recognizing, classifying, and exploiting patterns (Stewart,
1995).
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The Nature of Mathematics

• In the long course of history, people at a certain point were endowed
with insight to realize the existence of “form” in surroundings.
• From realization, a system of thought advanced into understanding
measures and developed the science of measures.
• They were also able to recognize some rudiment hints about patterns.
• The concept of recognizing shapes led to classifying contour and used
these designs to build human culture, an important ingredient for a
civilization to flourish.
• They realized that the natural world is embedded in a magnanimously
mathematical realm of patterns and that natural order efficiently
utilized the mathematical patterns to its advantage.
• As a result, man used mathematics as a brilliant way to understand the
nature by comprehending the structure of its underlying patterns and
regularities.
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Mathematics is a Tool
• Mathematics is an immensely useful, practical and powerful tool.
• It is not only about numbers, formulas and symbols; it is also about
forming new ways to see problems in order to understand them using a
combination of insights and imagination.
• It also allows us to perceive realities in different contexts that would
otherwise be intangible to us.
• It is our sense to decipher patterns, relationships, and logical
connections.
• It is a whole new way to see and understand the modern world.
• As a broad and deep discipline, it deals with the logic of shape, quantity,
and arrangement.
• It is not merely a collective thoughts dealing with numbers but a
universal language dealing with symbols, arts, equations, shapes, and
patterns.
• It is a powerful tool for decision-making and is a way of life.
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Mathematics is Everywhere
• We use mathematics in our daily tasks and activities.
• It is an important tool in the fields of natural and social
sciences, as well as in humanities such as literature, language,
music, and arts.
• There is mathematics wherever we go.
• There is also mathematics in nature.
• Even the universe has mathematics patterns that may soon be
unraveled.
• By using mathematics to organize and systematize our ideas
about patterns, we have discovered a great secret: nature’s
patterns are not just there to be admired, they are vital clues
the govern natural processes.
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Mathematics is in Daily Life

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Mathematics is in Our Work

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Mathematics is in People and Communities

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Mathematics is in Events
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Mathematics is in Science
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Mathematics is in Technology
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Mathematics is in Nature
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Mathematics is in Nature
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Mathematics is in Nature
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Mathematics is in Nature
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Mathematics is in the Universe

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The Essential Roles of Mathematics

• Mathematics has also countless of still hidden uses and applications.
• It allows us to learn and understand the natural order of the world.
• It is no longer merely as a pure science but has place in other areas of
perpetuating knowledge.
• It takes us to the complex processes that is naturally occurring in the
world and represents them by using logic to make things more
organized and efficient.
• It also facilitates the control of social, natural, medical, statistical, and
political climate.
• It is used by scientists and researchers to solve social, scientific, medical,
and political problems or crises.
• It provides tools for calculations use in undertaking research or
experiment in other disciplines.
• It provides new questions to think about.
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The Mathematical Landscape

• The human mind developed a conceptual landscape for
mathematical thoughts and ideas to flourish and propagate.
• There is an area in the human mind that is capable of constructing
and discerning insights and where the “mathematical landscape”
exists – the area wherein concepts of numbers, symbols, equations,
operations, calculations, abstractions, and proofs are the
inhabitants, as well as the constructs of the impenetrable vastness
of its un-chartered territories.
• Beneath the surface of this mathematical landscape are firmly
woven proofs, theorems, definitions, and axioms, which are
intricately fertilized by reasoning, analytical, critical thinking and
germicide by mathematical logic that made them precise, exact and
powerful.
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How Mathematics is Done

• Mathematics is a way of thinking and it is important to see
how thinking is developed rather than merely seeing the
results.
• Mathematics build upon itself; more complex concepts are
build upon simpler concepts
• Mathematics is done with curiosity.
• It is done with a penchant or inquisitiveness for seeking
patterns and generalities.
• It is done with a desire to know the truth.
• It is done with trial and error.
• It is done without fear of facing more questions and problems
to solve.
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Mathematics is for Everyone

• Mathematics provides utilization and usefulness in the order of things.
• Many people simply need to know the basics of the mathematical
operations in order to survive daily tasks, but for the human society to
survive, humanity needs beyond the rudiment of mathematics.
• The functions of mathematics is delegated across all disciplines.
• There are pure and applied mathematics as there are social and natural
sciences.
• There is mathematics for engineers to build, for commerce and finance, for
weather forecasting, related to health, and to harness energy for utilization.
• Everyone uses mathematics in different degrees and levels, whoever they
are, wherever they are, and whenever they need to.
• Whether professionals or ordinary people, they all use mathematics.
• Different people use different mathematics at different times, for different
purposes, using different tools, with different attitudes. (We call this the
diversity and universality of the use of mathematics.)
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The Importance of Knowing and Learning Mathematics

• The rules and structures behind the patterns of natural order explain what is
going on, as they provide clues to make predictions or conclusions.
• The clues make us realize that interference in the motion of heavenly bodies
can predict lunar eclipse, solar eclipse, or appearances of comets.
• Another example, the position of the sun and the moon relative to the earth
can predict high tide or low tide events affecting human activities.
• Mathematical training is vital to decipher clues provided by nature but the
role of mathematics still goes beyond clues and predictions.
• When we understand how the system works, our next goal is to control it to
make it do what we want.
• For example, we want to understand the mathematical pattern of a storm to
avoid or prevent catastrophes.
• Also, we want to know the mathematical concept behind the contagion of
the virus to control its spread.
• Mathematics puts order amidst disorder; it helps us become better persons
and makes the world a better place to live in.
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Learning Activity 1.1

Answer the following questions:

1. What are the new things that you learned about the
nature of mathematics?

2. What aspects of the lesson significantly changed your

view about mathematics?

3. What do you think is the most important contribution of

mathematics to humankind? Why?
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QUESTION AND ANSWER