Module 1 .

T h e N a t ur e
of M a t h e m a t i cs :
Mathe m a t ic s i n O ur
World (L1) Landicho, LPT
Instructor: Ms. Maricon S.
HISTORY
OF
MATHEMATICS
 HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS
ORIGINS OF COUNTING

The first solid evidence of the existence of the number one, and that someone was
using it to count, appears about 20,000 years ago.

Counting started with just a unified series of unified lines cut into a bone, named
Ishango bone.

The Ishango Bone was unearthed in 1950 in the then Belgian colony of the
Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). It was discovered by the Belgian
anthropologist Jean de Heinzelin de Braucourt (1920-1998) and named after the
region in which it was found. The bone, probably a fibula of a baboon, large cat, or
other large mammal, has been dated to the Upper Paleolithic Period of human
history, approximately 20,000-25,000 years ago. It is 10 cm long and bears an
articulated, organized series of notches readily identifying it, to many observers, as
a tally stick.
Sumerian & Babylonian Mathematics
Starting as early as the 4th millennium BCE, they began using a small clay
cone to represent one, a clay ball for ten, and a large cone for sixty. Over the
course of the third millennium, these objects were replaced by cuneiform
equivalents so that numbers could be written with the same stylus that was
being used for the words in the text. A rudimentary model of the abacus was
probably in use in Sumeria from as early as 2700 – 2300 BCE.

Sumerian and Babylonian mathematics was based on a sexagesimal, or base

60, numeric system, which could be counted physically using the twelve
knuckles on one hand the five fingers on the other hand.
20th CENTURY BREAKTHROUGH
The FIRST PERSONAL (DESKTOP) COMPUTER was released in 1965.

The Programma 101 (P101) weighed around 65 pounds and was about the size of a
typewriter. It had 37 keys, a decimal selector wheel, a built-in printer, and 240
bytes of internal memory. It could perform additions, subtractions, multiplications,
and divisions, and could also calculate numbers’ square roots and absolute values.
The Programma 101 also had the ability to store programs to cards that were made
of plastic with a magnetic coating on one side.
Notable uses of the Programma 101 include performing calculations for the Apollo
11 moon landing and calculating coordinates for B-52 bombing runs during the
Vietnam War.
PROGRAMMA 101 (P101)
FIRST LANDING OF MAN ON THE MOON(APOLLO 11, 1969)

Spacecraft requires perfectly calculated computations which are obtained through

matrix transformations. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
used Programma 101 (P101) in the Apollo 11 program.
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS)
Mathematically speaking the figure on
the left can be translated into a system
of spheres’ equation.
In order to make this simple calculation, the GPS receiver has to know
two things:

1. The distance between you and each of those satellites.

2. The location of at least three satellites above you.

The GPS receiver figures both of these out by analyzing high frequency, low power
radio signals from the GPS satellites. The receiver can figure out how far the signal
has travelled by timing how long it took the signal to arrive.
“Look deep into nature, and
then you will understand
everything better.”

Albert Einstein
Watch the video Nature by numbers
by Cristobal Vila,
then give your thoughts about the vid
eo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=tnkLDFpgix4
 Mathematics in our World
Fractals
A fractal is a mathematical formula of a pattern that repeats over a wide range of
size and time scales. These patterns are hidden within more complex systems.

Benoit Mandelbrot, known as the father of fractals, described how he has been
using fractals to find order within the complex systems in nature such as the shape
of coastlines.
We live in a Universe of Patterns
Flower Petals
They all belong to the Fibonacci sequence: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, etc.
(where each number is obtained from the sum of the two preceding)
The Honeycomb
It was found that if a series of circles were packed on top of each other, there were
empty spaces between them. The only way in which these empty spaces can be
avoided is by changing the shape to a hexagon.
The shape turns out to be economical much honey is enclosed by minimum bees
wax.
The Sunflower
All the sunflowers in the world show a number spirals that are within Fibonacci
system.
The Snowflake
Every snowflake is unique, that’s because individual snowflakes all follow slightly
different paths from the sky to the ground —and thus encounter slightly different
atmospheric conditions along the way. Therefore, they all tend to look unique,
resembling everything from prisms and needles to the familiar lacy pattern.  
The Snail shell
Mathematicians have learned to use Fibonacci sequence to describe certain shapes
that appear in nature. These shapes are called logarithmic spirals, and Nautilus
shells are just one example.
Patterns and Numbers in Nature
Human mind and culture have developed a formal system of thought for
recognizing, classifying and exploiting patterns called mathematics.
 
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 to the rules that governs natural
process.
“How is it possible that mathematics, a product
of human thought that is independent of
experience, fits so excellently the objects of
reality?”
- Albert Einstein
 Patterns are truly found all around us in nature, all attributable to
mathematics. One with a limited mathematical background may not
think to look for them, but once a fundamental knowledge is gained,
it's hard to not see that they are ubiquitous in the universe.

As Vincent van Gogh once said, “if you truly love nature, you will
find beauty everywhere”. If you understand mathematical patterns,
this beauty is not hard to find.
 Any questions?
You can find me at:
✘ Maricon Sandoval Landicho (facebook)
✘ mlandicho.philsca@gmail.com

Next topic: What is Mathematics for?