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TheStoryofMathsWikipedia

TheStoryofMaths
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheStoryofMathsisafourpartBritishtelevisionseriesoutlining
aspectsofthehistoryofmathematics
.Itwasacoproduction
betweentheOpenUniversity
andtheBBCandairedinOctober
2008onBBCFour.Thematerialwaswrittenandpresentedby
UniversityofOxford
professorMarcusduSautoy.[1]Theconsultants
weretheOpenUniversityacademics
RobinWilson,professor
JeremyGrayandJuneBarrowGreen.KimDukeiscreditedas
seriesproducer.[2]

TheStoryofMaths

Theseriescomprisedfourprogrammesrespectivelytitled:
The
Titlescreenshot
LanguageoftheUniverseTheGeniusoftheEastThe
FrontiersofSpaceandToInfinityandBeyond.DuSautoy
Mathematicsdocumentary
Genre
documentsthedevelopmentofmathematicscoveringsubjectssuch
MarcusduSautoy
Presentedby
astheinventionofzeroandtheunproven
Riemannhypothesis
,a
UnitedKingdom
Countryoforigin
150yearoldproblemforwhosesolutionthe
ClayMathematics
Institutehasoffereda$1,000,000prize.Heescortsviewersthrough Original
English
thesubject'shistoryandgeography
.Heexaminesthedevelopmentof language(s)
keymathematicalideasandshowshowmathematicalideasunderpin
1
No.ofseries
theworld'sscience,technology
,andculture.
4

No.ofepisodes

Hestartshisjourneyin
ancientEgyptandfinishesitbylookingat
currentmathematics.Betweenhetravelsthrough
Babylon,Greece,
India,China,andthemedievalMiddleEast
.Healsolooksat
Runningtime
mathematicsinEuropeandtheninAmericaandtakestheviewers
insidethelivesofmanyofthegreatestmathematicians.

Contents
1
2
3
4

"TheLanguageoftheUniverse"
"TheGeniusoftheEast"
"TheFrontiersofSpace"
"ToInfinityandBeyond"
4.1 Hilbert'sfirstproblem
4.2 Poincarconjecture
4.3 DavidHilbert
4.4 Hilbert'ssecondproblem
4.5 Hilbert'sfirstproblemrevisited
4.6 Hilbert'stenthproblem
4.7 Algebraicgeometry
5 Seealso
6 References
7 Externallinks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Maths

Production
1hour
Release

Originalnetwork

BBCFour

Originalrelease

6October27October
2008
Externallinks

Officialwebsite(http://www .bbc.co.uk/programme
s/b00dxjls)

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"TheLanguageoftheUniverse"

InthisopeningprogrammeMarcusduSautoylooksathowimportantandfundamentalmathematicsistoourlivesbefore
lookingatthemathematicsof
ancientEgypt,Mesopotamia,andGreece.

DuSautoycommencesin
Egyptwhererecordingthepatternsoftheseasonsandinparticularthefloodingofthe
Nilewas
[3]Du
essentialtotheireconomy
.Therewasaneedtosolvepracticalproblemssuchaslandareafortaxationpurposes.
Sautoydiscoverstheuseofadecimalsystembasedonthefingersonthehands,theunusualmethodformultiplicationand
division.Heexaminesthe
RhindPapyrus,theMoscowPapyrusandexplorestheirunderstandingofbinarynumbers,
fractionsandsolidshapes.
HethentravelstoBabylonanddiscoveredthatthewaywetellthetimetodayisbasedonthe
Babylonian60basenumber
system.SobecauseoftheBabylonianswehave60secondsinaminute,and60minutesinanhour
.Hethenshowshow
theBabyloniansused
quadraticequationstomeasuretheirland.Hedealsbrieflywith
Plimpton322.

InGreece,thehomeofancient
Greekmathematics,helooksatthecontributionsofsomeofitsgreatestandwellknown
mathematiciansincluding
Pythagoras,Plato,Euclid,andArchimedes,whoaresomeofthepeoplewhoarecreditedwith
beginningthetransformationofmathematicsfromatoolforcountingintotheanalyticalsubjectweknowtoday
.A
controversialfigure,Pythagorasteachingswereconsideredsuspectandhisfollowersseenassocialoutcastsandalittleb
strangeandnotinthenorm.Thereisalegendgoingaroundthatoneofhisfollowers,
Hippasus,wasdrownedwhenhe
announcedhisdiscoveryof
irrationalnumbers
.Aswellashisworkonthepropertiesofrightangledtriangles,Pythagoras
developedanotherimportanttheoryafterobservingmusicalinstruments.Hediscoveredthattheintervalsbetween
[4]Itdealsbrieflywith
harmoniousmusicalnotesarealwaysinwholenumberintervals.
HypatiaofAlexandria
.

"TheGeniusoftheEast"

WiththedeclineofancientGreece,thedevelopmentofmathsstagnatedinEurope.Howevertheprogressofmathematics
continuedintheEast.DuSautoydescribesboththe
Chineseuseofmaths
inengineeringprojects
andtheirbeliefinthe
mysticalpowersofnumbers.Hementions
QinJiushao.
HedescribesIndianmathematicians
inventionof
trigonometrytheirintroductionofasymbolforthenumber
zeroandtheir
contributiontothenewconceptsof
infinity
andnegativenumbers
.ItshowsGwaliorFortwherezeroisinscribedonits
walls.Itmentionstheworkof
BrahmaguptaandBhskaraIIonthesubjectofzero.Hementions
Madhavaof
SangamagramaandAryabhataandillustratesthehistoricallyfirstexact
formulaforcalculatingthe(pi)
.[5]
DuSautoythenconsiders
theMiddleEast:theinventionofthenewlanguageof
algebraandtheevolutionofasolutionto
cubicequations.HetalksabouttheHouseofWisdomwithMuhammadibnMsalKhwrizm
andhevisitsUniversityof
AlKaraouine.HementionsOmarKhayym.
Finallyheexaminesthespreadof
EasternknowledgetotheW
estthroughmathematicianssuchas
LeonardoFibonacci,
famousfortheFibonaccisequence.[6]HementionsNiccolFontanaTartaglia.

"TheFrontiersofSpace"
Fromtheseventeenthcentury
,EuropereplacedtheMiddleEastas
theenginehouseofmathematicalideas.DuSautoyvisits
Urbinoto
introducePerspectiveusingmathematicianandartist,
Pierodella
Francesca'sTheFlagellationofChrist.[7]
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DuSautoyproceedstodescribesRenDescartesrealisationthatit
waspossibletodescribecurvedlinesasequationsandthuslink
algebraandgeometry
.HetalkswithHenkJ.M.Bosabout
Descartes.Heshowshowoneof
PierredeFermatstheoremsis
nowthebasisforthecodesthatprotectcreditcardtransactionson
theinternet.HedescribesIsaacNewton
sdevelopmentofmathand
physicscrucialtounderstandingthebehaviourofmovingobjectsin
engineering.Hecoversthe
LeibnizandNewtoncalculus
controversyandtheBernoullifamily
.HefurthercoversLeonhard
Euler,thefatheroftopology
,andGauss'inventionofanewwayof
handlingequations,modulararithmetic.Hementions
JnosBolyai.
Year

ThefurthercontributionofGausstoourunderstandingofhow
prime
numbersaredistributediscoveredthusprovidingtheplatformfor Location
BernhardRiemann
'stheoriesonprimenumbers.Inaddition

probably14551460
GalleriaNazionaledelleMarche

[8]
Riemannworkedonthepropertiesofobjects,whichhesawasmanifoldsthatcouldexistinmultidimensionalspace.

"ToInfinityandBeyond"
Hilbert'sfirstproblem

Thefinalepisodeconsidersthegreatunsolvedproblemsthatconfrontedmathematiciansinthe20thcentury
.On8August
1900DavidHilbertgaveahistorictalkatthe
InternationalCongressofMathematicians
inParis.Hilbertposed
twenty
threethenunsolvedproblems
inmathematicswhichhebelievedwereofthemostimmediateimportance.Hilbertsucceeded
insettingtheagendafor20thCmathematicsandtheprogrammecommencedwith
Hilbert'sfirstproblem
.

GeorgCantorconsideredtheinfinitesetofwholenumbers1,2,3...whichhecomparedwiththesmallersetofnumbers
10,20,30....Cantorshowedthatthesetwoinfinitesetsofnumbersactuallyhadthesamesizeasitwaspossibletopair
eachnumberup110,220,330...etc.

Iffractionsnowareconsideredthereareaninfinitenumberoffractionsbetweenanyofthetwowholenumbers,suggestin
thattheinfinityoffractionsisbiggerthantheinfinityofwholenumbers.Y
etCantorwasstillabletopaireachsuchfraction
toawholenumber11/122/131/2...etc.throughtoi.e.theinfinitiesofbothfractionsandwholenumberswere
showntohavethesamesize.
Butwhenthesetofallinfinitedecimalnumberswasconsidered,Cantorwasabletoprovethatthisproducedabigger
infinity
.Thiswasbecause,nomatterhowonetriedtoconstructsuchalist,Cantorwasabletoprovideanewdecimal
numberthatwasmissingfromthatlist.Thusheshowedthatthereweredif
ferentinfinities,somebiggerthanothers.

However,therewasaproblemthatCantorwasunabletosolve:Isthereaninfinitysittingbetweenthesmallerinfinityofa
thefractionsandthelar
gerinfinityofthedecimals?Cantorbelieved,inwhatbecameknownasthe
ContinuumHypothesis
,
[2]
thatthereisnosuchset.ThiswouldbethefirstproblemlistedbyHilbert.

Poincarconjectur e
NextMarcusdiscussesHenriPoincar'sworkonthedisciplineof'Bendygeometry'.Iftwoshapescanbemouldedor
morphedtoeachother'sshapethentheyhavethesametopology
.Poincarwasabletoidentifyallpossibletwo
dimensionaltopologicalsurfaceshoweverin1904hecameupwithatopologicalproblem,the
Poincarconjecture,thathe
[2]
couldnotsolvenamelywhatareallthepossibleshapesfora3Duniverse.
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Accordingtotheprogramme,the
questionwassolvedin2002byGrigoriPerelman
wholinkedtheproblemtoadif
ferent
areaofmathematics.Perelmanlookedatthedynamicsofthewaythingscanflowovertheshape.Thisenabledhimtofin
[2]
allthewaysthat3Dspacecouldbewrappedupinhigherdimensions.

DavidHilbert

TheachievementsofDavidHilbertwerenowconsidered.Inadditionto
Hilbert'sproblems,Hilbertspace,Hilbert
ClassificationandtheHilbertInequality
,duSautoyhighlightsHilbert'searlyworkonequationsasmarkinghimoutasa
mathematicianabletothinkinnewways.Hilbertshowedthat,whiletherewereaninfinityofequations,theseequations
couldbeconstructedfromafinitenumberofbuildingblocklikesets.IronicallyHilbertcouldnotconstructthatlistofsets
[2]
hesimplyprovedthatitexisted.Inef
fectHilberthadcreatedanewmoreabstractstyleofMathematics.

Hilbert'ssecondproblem

For30yearsHilbertbelievedthatmathematicswasauniversallanguagepowerfulenoughtounlockallthetruthsandsolv
eachofhis23Problems.Y
et,evenasHilbertwasstating
Wemustknow,wewillknow,KurtGdelhadshatteredthis
beliefhehadformulatedthe
IncompletenessTheorem
basedonhisstudyof
Hilbert'ssecondproblem
:
Thisstatementcannotbeproved
Usingacodebasedonprimenumbers
,Gdelwasabletotransformtheaboveintoapurestatementofarithmetic.
Logically
,theabovecannotbefalseandhenceGdelhaddiscoveredtheexistenceofmathematicalstatementsthatwere
[2]
truebutwereincapableofbeingproved.

Hilbert'sfirstproblemrevisited

In1950sAmericanmathematician
PaulCohentookupthechallengeofCantor'sContinuumHypothesiswhichasks"is
thereisorisn'tthereaninfinitesetofnumberbiggerthanthesetofwholenumbersbutsmallerthanthesetofalldecimal
Cohenfoundthatthereexistedtwoequallyconsistentmathematicalworlds.InoneworldtheHypothesiswastrueand
theredidnotexistsuchaset.Y
etthereexistedamutuallyexclusivebutequallyconsistentmathematicalproofthat
Hypothesiswasfalseandtherewassuchaset.Cohenwouldsubsequentlyworkon
Hilbert'seighthproblem
,theRiemann
[2]
hypothesis,althoughwithoutthesuccessofhisearlierwork.

Hilbert'stenthproblem
Hilbert'stenthproblem
askediftherewassomeuniversalmethodthatcouldtellwhetheranyequationhadwholenumber
solutionsornot.Thegrowingbeliefwasthatnososuchmethodwaspossibleyetthequestionremained,howcouldyou
provethat,nomatterhowingeniousyouwere,youwouldnevercomeupwithsuchamethod.Hementions
PaulCohen.
ToanswerthisJuliaRobinson
,whocreatedtheRobinsonHypothesis
whichstatedthattoshowthattherewasnosuch
methodallyouhadtodowascookuponeequationwhosesolutionswereaveryspecificsetofnumbers:Thesetof
numbersneededtogrowexponentiallyyetstillbecapturedbytheequationsattheheartofHilbert'sproblem.Robinson
wasunabletofindthisset.Thispartofthesolutionfellto
YuriMatiyasevich
whosawhowtocapturethe
Fibonacci
[2]
sequenceusingtheequationsattheheartofHilbert'stenth.

Algebraicgeometry

Thefinalsectionbrieflycovers
algebraicgeometry
.varisteGalois
hadrefinedanewlanguageformathematics.Galois
believedmathematicsshouldbethestudyofstructureasopposedtonumberandshape.Galoishaddiscoverednew
techniquestotellwhethercertainequationscouldhavesolutionsornot.Thesymmetryofcertaingeometricobjectswasth
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key.Galois'workwaspickedupby
AndrWeilwhobuiltalgebraicgeometry
,awholenewlanguage.W
eil'swork
connectednumbertheory,algebra,topologyandgeometry
.
FinallyduSautoymentionsW
eil'spartinthecreationofthefictionalmathematician
NicolasBourbakiandanother
contributortoBourbaki'soutput
AlexanderGrothendieck
.[2]

Seealso
Chemistry:AVolatileHistory
TheStoryofScience:Power,ProofandPassion

References
1.Guardianinterview(http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/audio/2008/oct/13/scienceweeklypodcast)
2.ToInfinityandBeyond27October200821:00BBCFour
3.BBCFourTheLanguageoftheUniverse9:00pm6October2008
4.OpenLearn:TheLanguageoftheUniverse(http://www.open.edu/openlearn/whatson/tv/ouonthebbcthestorymathsth
elanguagetheuniverse)accessed12March2014
5.BBCdocumentary"TheStoryofMaths",secondpart(http://vimeo.com/74859005),showingavisualizationofthe
historicallyfirstexactformula,startingat35minand20secintothesecondpartofthedocumentary
.
6.OpenLearn:TheGeniusoftheEast(http://www.open.edu/openlearn/whatson/tv/ouonthebbcthestorymathsthegeniu
stheeast)accessed12March2014
7.TheFrontiersofSpace20October200821:00BBCFour
8.OpenLearn:TheFrontiersofSpace(http://www.open.edu/openlearn/whatson/tv/ouonthebbcthestorymathsthefronti
ersspace)accessed12March2014

Externallinks
TheStoryofMaths(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1926910/)
attheInternetMovieDatabase
TheStoryofMaths(http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dxjls)
atBBCProgrammes
OUontheBBC:TheStoryofMathsAbouttheseries
(http://www.open.edu/openlearn/whatson/ouonthebbct
hestorymathsabouttheseries)
atOpenLearn
Retrievedfrom"
https://en.wikipedia.or
g/w/index.php?title=The_Story_of_Maths&oldid=739834181
"
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