Theory of Knowledge - CHAPTER 4] (EM Pure anv APPLIED MATHEMATICS Mathematics has clearly played a significant part in the development of many past and present civilisations. There is good evidence that mathematical, and probably astronomical techniques, were used to build the many stone circles of Europe which are thought to be at least three thousand years old (Thom). Itis likely that the Egyptian pyramids and constructions on Aztec and Mayan sites in South America were also built by mathematically sophisticated architects. Similarly, cultures in China, India and throughout the Middle East developed mathematics a very Jong time ago. It is also the case that there have been very successful cultures that have found little use for mathematics. Ancient Rome, handicapped, as it was, by a non-place value number system did not develop a mathematical tradition at anything like the same level as that of Ancient Greece. Also, the Australian Aborigines who have one of the most long lasting and successful cultures in human history did not find much need for mathematical methods. The same is true of the many aboriginal cultures of Africa, Asia and the Americas. This may well be because these aboriginal cultures did not value ownership in the way that western culture does and had no need to count their possessions. Instead, to aboriginal cultures, a responsible and sustainable relationship with the environment is more important than acquisition and exploitation. Maybe we should learn from this before it is too late! Mathematics has developed two distinct branches. Pure mathematics, which is studied for its own sake, and applied mathematics which is studied for its usefulness. This is not to say that the two branches have not cross-fertilised each other, for there have been many examples in which they have. ‘The pure mathematician Pierre de Fermat (1601-1665) guessed that the equation x" + y" = z has whole numbered solutions for n = 2 only. To the pure mathematician, this type of problem is interesting for its own sake. To study it is to look for an essential truth, the ‘majestic clockwork’ of the universe, Pure mathematicians see ‘beauty’ and ‘elegance’ in a neat proof. To pure mathematicians, their subject is an art. Applied mathematics seeks to develop mathematical objects such as equations and computer algorithms that can be used to predict what will happen if we follow a particular course of action. This is a very valuable capability. We no longer build bridges without making careful calculations as to whether or not they will stand. Airline pilots are able to experience serious failures in commercial jets without either risking lives or the airline’s valuable aeroplanes or, indeed, without even leaving the ground e-AR.\ i )MATHEMATICS - Higher Level (Core) ‘Mathematics is based on axioms. These are ‘facts’ that are assumed to be true. An axiom is a statement that is accepted without proof. Early sets of axioms contained statements that appeared to be obviously true. Euclid postulated a number of these ‘obvious’ axioms. “Things equal to the same thing are equal to each other"; ify =aandx=a then y =x. Euclid was mainly interested in geometry and we still call plane geometry ‘Euclidean’ . In Euclidean space, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. We will see later that it is possible to develop a useful, consistent mathematics that does not accept this axiom. ‘Most axiom systems have been based on the notion of a ‘set’, meaning a collection of objects. An example of a set axiom is the ‘axiom of specification’. In crude terms, this says that if we have a set of objects and are looking at placing some condition or specification on this set, then the set thus specified must exist. We consider some examples of this axiom. Assume that the set of citizens of China is defined. If we impose the condition that the members of this set must be female, then this new set (of Chinese females) is defined. Asa more mathematical example, if we assume that the set of whole numbers exists, then the set of even numbers (multiples of 2) must also exist. A second example of a set axiom is the ‘axiom of powers": Example: For each set, there exists a collection of sets that contains amongst its elements all the subsets of the original set. If we look at the set of cats in Bogota, then there must be a set that contains all the female cats in Bogota, another that contains all the cats with green eyes in Bogota, another that contains all the Bogota cats with black tails, ete. A good, but theoretical, account of axiomatic set theory can be found in Halmos, 1960. Mathematics has, in some sense, been a search for the smallest possible set of consistent axioms. In the section on paradox, we will look further at the notion of axioms and the search for a set of assumptions that does not lead to contradictions. There is a very strong sense in which ‘mathematics is an unusual pursuit in this respect. Pure mathematics is concerned with absolute truth only in the sense of creating a self-consistent structure of thinking. Asan example of some axioms that may not seem to be sensible, consider a geometry in which the shortest path between two points is the arc of a circle and all parallel lines meet. These ‘axioms’ do not seem to make sense in ‘normal’ geometry. The first mathematicians to investigate non-Euclidean geometry were the Russian, Nicolai Lobachevsky (1793-1856) and the Hungarian, Janos Bolyai (1802-1860). Independently, they developed self consistent geometries that did not include the so called parallel postulate which states that for every line AB and point C outside AB there is only one line through C that does not meet AB. 2‘Theory of Knowledge - CHAPTER Cc A Since both lines extend to infinity in both directions, this seems to be ‘obvious’. Non-Euclidean geometries do not include this postulate and assume either that there are no lines through C that do not meet AB or that there is more than one such line. It was the great achievement of Lobachevsky and Bolyai that they proved that these assumptions lead to geometries that are self consistent and thus acceptable as ‘true’ to pure mathematicians. In case you are thinking that this sort of activity is completely useless, one of the two non-Euclidean geometries discussed above has actually proved to be useful; the geometry of shapes drawn on a sphere. This is useful because it is the geometry used by the navigators of aeroplanes and ships. Ro jakarta ‘The first point about this geometry is that it is impossible to travel in straight lines. On the surface of a sphere, the shortest distance between two points is an arc of a circle centred at the centre of the sphere (a great circle). The shortest path from Rome to Djakarta is circular. If you want to see this path on a geographer’ globe, take a length of sewing cotton and stretch it tightly between the two cities. The cotton will follow the approximate great circle route between the two cities If we now think of the arcs of great circles as our ‘straight lines’ , what kind of geometry will we ‘get? You can see some of these results without going into any complex calculations. For example, what would a triangle look like? ‘The first point is that the angles of this triangle add up to more than 180°. There are many other ‘odd’ features of this geometry. However, fortunately for the international airline trade, the gcometry is self consistent and allows us to navigate safely around the surface of the globe. Thus non-Euclidean geometry is an acceptable pure mathematical structure. While you are thinking about unusual geometries, what are the main features of the geometry of shapes drawn on the ‘saddle surface’?