Pampanga State Agricultural University

Magalang, Pampanga

College of Education – Graduate Studies

HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF

MATHEMATICS

Prepared by:
Dr. Epifania S. Gosioco
MathEd 201/Elective 6:
History and Philosophy of
Mathematics

 This course covers the deductive, utilitarian

and modern mathematics. It is primarily an
investigation into the origin of new
discoveries in mathematics into the standard
mathematical methods and notation of the
past. It also includes the three dominant
philosophies of mathematics: logicism,
formalism, and intuitionism.
Mathematics continues to grow
at a phenomenal rate.
There is no end in sight, and
the application of mathematics
to science becomes greater
all the time.
Where did Mathematics
Start?

Mesopotamia Egypt

India
China
The Rhind and Moscow
papyri.

Egypt
Babylonian mathematics

clay tablets, cuneiform, magic

square and magic circles
Chinese mathematics

 complex combinatorial diagram known as the

magic square and magic circles, described in
ancient times and perfected by Yang Hui .
Indian mathematics

 Statue of Aryabhata
9th century
Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Ḵwārizmī wrote several
important books on the Hindu-Arabic numerals and
on methods for solving equations .

11th century
Omar Khayyam wrote Discussions of the Difficulties in
Euclid, a book about flaws in Euclid's Elements,
especially the parallel postulate, and laid the
foundations for analytic geometry and
non-Euclidean geometry .
12th century
Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī
introduced the concept of a
function .

13th century
Nasir al-Din Tusi
(Nasireddin) made advances in
spherical trigonometry .
14th century
saw the development of new mathematical concepts
to investigate a wide range of problems.

16th century
European mathematicians began to make advances
without precedent anywhere in the world, so far as is
known today.

.
17th century
saw an unprecedented explosion of
mathematical and scientific ideas across
Europe. Galileo, an Italian, observed the
moons of Jupiter in orbit about that planet,
using a telescope based on a toy imported
from Holland.
19th century
– mathematics became increasingly abstract. ( Gauss – works on
functions of complex variable.) and great deal of abstract algebra.

20th century – saw mathematics become a major profession

( development of the world-wide web)
Hans Freudenthal (September 17, 1905 – Oct
ober 13, 1990)
He made substantial contributions to
algebraic topology and also took an interest
in literature, philosophy, history and
mathematics education. Later in his life,
Freudenthal focused on elementary
mathematics education. In the1970s, his
single-handed intervention
prevented the Netherlands from following the
worldwide trend of "`new math"
New Math
- was a brief, dramatic change in the way
mathematics was taught in American grade schools
, and to a lesser extent in European countries,
during the 1960s. The name is commonly given to a
set of teaching practices introduced in the U.S

- New Math emphasized mathematical structure

through abstract concepts like set theory and
number bases other than 10 .
Toru Kumon ( 公文 公 Kumon Tōru?,
August 5, 1914 – July 25, 1995)

 Kumon method.
This method involves repetition of key
mathematics skills, such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division, until mastery is
reached. Students then progress to studying the
next mathematical topic. Kumon defined mastery
as being able to get an excellent score on the
material in the time given, which is intended to
benefit students in all their studies. Kumon
strongly emphasized the concepts of time and
accuracy.
 Van Hiele model

-is a theory that describes how students learn

geometry. The theory originated in 1957 in the
doctoral dissertations of Dina van Hiele-Geldof
and Pierre van Hiele

Robert Parris Moses

an American Harvard-trained educator who
joined the civil rights movement and later
founded the nationwide U.S. Algebra project
Algebra Project

 is a national U.S. mathematics literacy effort

aimed at helping low-income students and
students of color successfully achieve
mathematical skills that are a prerequisite for a
college preparatory mathematics sequence in
high school.
- the Project's mission is to ensure "full citizenship
in today's technological society."
 The Algebra Project reaches approximately
10,000 students and approximately 300 teachers
per year in 28 local sites across 10 states.
21st century

 In 2000, the Clay Mathematics Institute

announced the Millennium Prize Problems, and in
2003 the Poincaré conjecture was solved by Grigori
Perelman.

Most mathematical journals now have online

versions as well as print versions, and many online-
only journals are launched
E8
-the E8 computation called
for new mathematical
techniques and computing power
available only recently. "This
is an impressive achievement,"
said physicist Hermann
Nicolai, director of the
Albert Einstein Institute in
Potsdam, Germany.
Rubic’s cube solvable in 26 moves

Northeastern Computer Science PhD student Daniel Kunkle has proven that any
configuration of a Rubik’s cube can be solved in 26 moves or fewer moves. The
previous upper bound was 27.

D. Kunkle and G. Cooperman, “Twenty-Six Moves Suffice for Rubik’s Cube”,

Proceedings of International Symposium on Symbolic and Algebraic
Computation (ISSAC ‘07), ACM Press, 2007, 235–242.
Mathematicians Map 248-Dimension E8
Problem

An international team of 18 mathematicians has mapped one of

the largest and most complicated structures in mathematics
If written out on paper, the calculation describing this structure
-- known as E8 -- would cover an area the size of Manhattan.
Memorabilia
of
Mathematics

The 2002 Fields Medals were presented in

Beijing by the President of China and the
President of the ICM2002.

There are wonderful stamps honoring mathematicians

issued by many countries. Unfortunately, it would appear
that the U.S. has never honored a mathematician.
 Math and ICT
Computer-based mathematics education

Sets of Mathematics, Education, and Computers

Computer-based mathematics education (CBME) is an approach
to teaching mathematics that emphasizes the use of computers. It is
still a developing field which has yet to realize the expectations
formed in the early days of computing.[1]
Computers

are used in education

in a number of ways, such
as interactive tutorials,
hypermedia, simulations and
educational games [2].
Tutorials are types of
software
that present information,
check learning by question/answer
method, judge response and
provide feedback and usually
provide students study
personally. MathMedia Educational
Software and Bilelim Geometry are
examples of this type.
Hypermedia
provides students a
database of information
with multiple navigation
methods and learning
facilities, and also, a
freedom of independence
during the learning
Simulations
provide students
interaction with in order
to learn as it were real
life and use the storage
and processing features of
computers.
Educational games
are more like
simulations and used from
elementary to college
students