Mathematics in our World

Libeeth B. Guevarra
Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
libeeth.guevarra@cit.edu

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 The astronomer Galileo Galilei in
his IL Saggiatore wrote that

”[The universe] is written in the

language of mathematics, and its
characters are triangles, circles,
and other geometric figures.”

Artists who strive and seek to

study nature must first, in
Galileo’s view, fully understand
mathematics.

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What is Mathematics?
”Human mind and culture have developed a formal
system of thought for recognizing, classifying, and
exploiting patterns called mathematics” (Stewart, p.1)

1 The origin of counting

2 Geometric patterns
3 Patterns of movement
4 A tool to quantify, organize and control our world,
control phenomena, and make life easier for us

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Where is Mathematics?

We see hints or clues of it in nature

In our daily routine
In our work
In people and communities
In events

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What is Mathematics for?

helps unravel the puzzles of nature

helps organize patterns and regularities as well as
irregularities in the world
helps predict the behavior of nature and phenomena
in the world
provides tools for calculations

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 helps control nature and occurrences in the world
for our own ends such as weather and epidemics
provides new questions to think about
Mathematics has numerous applications in the world
making it indispensable

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How is Mathematics done?

with curiosity
with a penchant for seeking patterns and generalities
with desire to know the truth with trial and error
without fear of facing more questions and problems
to solve

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Who uses Mathematics?

mathematicians: pure and applied

scientists: natural and social
EVERYONE but, different people use different
mathematics at different times, for different
purposes, using different tools

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Why is mathematics important to know?

it puts order in disorder

it helps us to become a better persons
it helps make the world a better place to live

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