The history of matrices goes back to ancient times!

But the term "matrix" was no

t applied to the concept until 1850.

"Matrix" is the Latin word for womb, and it retains that sense in English. It ca
n also mean more generally any place in which something is formed or produced.

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The orgins of mathematical matrices lie with the study of systems of simultaneou
s linear equations. An important Chinese text from between 300 BC and AD 200, Ni
ne Chapters of the Mathematical Art (Chiu Chang Suan Shu), gives the first known
example of the use of matrix methods to solve simultaneous equations.
In the treatise's seventh chapter, "Too much and not enough," the concept of a d
eterminant first appears, nearly two millennia before its supposed invention by
the Japanese mathematician Seki Kowa in 1683 or his German contemporary Gottfrie
d Leibnitz (who is also credited with the invention of differential calculus, se
parately from but simultaneously with Isaac Newton).
More uses of matrix-like arrangements of numbers appear in chapter eight, "Metho
ds of rectangular arrays," in which a method is given for solving simultaneous e
quations using a counting board that is mathematically identical to the modern m
atrix method of solution outlined by Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855), also know
n as Gaussian elimination.

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The term "matrix" for such arrangements was introduced in 1850 by James Joseph S
ylvester.
Sylvester, incidentally, had a (very) brief career at the University of Virginia
, which came to an abrupt end after an enraged Sylvester hit a newspaper-reading
student with a sword stick and fled the country, believing he had killed the st
udent!

James Joseph Sylvester.

(Source: http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/PictDisplay/Sylvester.html)

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Since their first appearance in ancient China, matrices have remained important
mathematical tools. Today, they are used not simply for solving systems of simul
taneous linear equations, but also for describing the quantum mechanics of atomi
c structure, designing computer game graphics, analyzing relationships, and even
 plotting complicated dance steps!

The elevation of the matrix from mere tool to important mathematical theory owes
a lot to the work of female mathematician Olga Taussky Todd (1906-1995), who be
gan by using matrices to analyze vibrations on airplanes during World War II and
became the torchbearer for matrix theory.

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In their own words:
"I did not look for matrix theory. It somehow looked for me." --Olga Taussky Tod
d in American Mathematical Monthly
(quotation source: http://www.maa.org/mathland/mathtrek_8_16_99.html)
"Mathematics is more than an art form. "--Sei Kowa
(quotation source: http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Quotations/Seki.h
tml)
"Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and number theory is the queen of math
ematics." --Carl Friedrich Gauss
"God does arithmetic." --Carl Friedrich Gauss
(source for Gauss quotations: http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Quotat
ions/Gauss.html)
"...there is no study in the world which brings into more harmonious action all
the faculties of the mind than [mathematics], ... or, like this, seems to raise
them, by successive steps of initiation, to higher and higher states of consciou
s intellectual being.... "--James Sylvester, Presidential Address to British Ass
ociation, 1869.
"Mathematics is the music of reason."--James Sylvester
(source for Sylvester quotations: http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Qu
otations/Sylvester.html)

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Fun links:
Applet to perform basic arithmetic operations on matrices: http://www.quickmath.
com/www02/pages/modules/matrices/arithmetic/basic/index.shtml

Matrices and Determinants

Overview
In mathematics, a matrix is a group of numbers that have been arranged in a rect
angle. The word for more than one matrix is matrices. The mathematics of handlin
g matrices is called matrix algebra or linear algebra. Matrices are one of the m
ost widely applied of all mathematical tools. They are used to solve problems in
 the design of machines, the layout by oil and trucking companies of efficient s
hipping routes, the playing of competitive "games" in war and business, mapmakin
g, earthquake prediction, imaging the inside of the body, prediction of both sho
rt-term weather and global climate change, and thousands of other purposes.
Fundamental Mathematical Concepts and Terms
Matrices are usually printed with square brackets around them. The matrix depict
ed in Figure 1 contains four numbers or "elements."
A column in a matrix is a vertical stack of numbers: in this matrix, 3 and 7 for
m the first column and 5 and 4 form the second. A row in a matrix is a horizonta
l line of numbers: in this matrix, 3 and 5 form the first row and 7 and 4 form t
he second. Matrices are named by how tall and wide they are. In this example the
matrix is two elements tall and two elements wide, so it is a 2 × 2 matrix. The m
atrix in Figure 2 is 3 elements tall and five elements wide, so it is a 3 × 5 matr
ix.
A flat matrix that could be written on the squares of a chessboard, like these t
wo examples, is called "two dimensional" because we need two numbers to say wher
e each element of the matrix is. For instance, the number "10" in the 3 × 5 matrix
would be indicated "row 2, column 4." A matrix can also be three-dimensional: i
n this case, numbers are arranged as if on the squares of a stack of chessboards
, and to point to a particular number you have to name its row, its column, and
which board in the stack it is on. There is no limit to the number of dimensions
that a matrix can have. We cannot form mental pictures of matrices with four, f
ive, or more dimensions, but they are just as mathematically real.
The numbers in a matrix can stand for anything. They might stand for the brightn
esses of the dots in an image, or for the percentages of spotted owls in various
age groups that survive to older ages. In one of the most important practical u
ses of matrices, the numbers in the matrix stand for the coefficients of linear
equations. A linear equation is an equation that consists of a sum of variables
(unknown numbers), each multiplied by a coefficient (a known number). Here are t
wo linear equations: 2x + 3y = 11 and 7x + 9y = 0. Where the variables are x and
y and the coefficients are the numbers that multiply them (namely 2, 3, 7, and
9). Together, these two equations form a "system." This system of equations can
also be written as a 2 × 2 matrix times a 2 × 1 matrix (or "vector"), set equal to a
second 2 × 1 matrix, as depicted in Figure 3.
The information that is in the matrix equation is also in the original system of
equations, and is in almost the same arrangement on the paper. The only thing t
hat has changed is the way the information is written down. For very large syste
ms of equations (with tens or hundreds of variables, not just x and y), matrix e
quations are much more efficient.
Say that we wish to solve this matrix equation. This means we want to find a val
ue of x and a value of y for which the equation is true. In this case, the only
solution is
(If you try these values for x and y in the equations 2x + 3y = 11 and 7x + 9y =
0, you'll find that both equations work out as true. No other values of x and y
will work.) Finding solutions to matrix equations is one of the most important
uses of computers in science, engineering, and business today, because thousands
of practical problems can be described using systems of linear equations (somet
imes very large systems, with matrices of many dimensions containing thousands o
r millions of numbers). Computers are solving larger matrix equations faster and
faster, making many new products and scientific discoveries possible.
The rules for doing math with matrices, including solving matrix equations, are
described by the field of mathematics called "matrix algebra." Matrices of the s
ame size can be added, subtracted, or multiplied. One number that can be calcula
ted from any square matrix that is, any matrix that has the same number of rows as
it has columns is the determinant. Every square matrix has a determinant. The det
erminant is calculated by multiplying the elements of the matrix by each other a
nd then adding the products according to a certain rule. For example, the rule f
or the determinant of a 2 × 2 matrix is as follows:

Figure 2: A 3×5 matrix.

(Here the small numbers attached to the variables are just labels to help us tel
l them apart). For a 3 × 3 matrix, the rule is more complicated:
and the rules get more and more complicated for larger matrices and higher dimens
ions. But that isn't a problem, because computers are good at calculating determ
inants.
Determinants are always studied by students learning matrix algebra, where they
have many technical uses in matrix algebra. However, they are less important tod
ay in matrix theory than they were before the invention of computers. About a hu
ndred years ago, a major mathematical reference work was published that merely s
ummarized the properties of determinants that had been discovered up to that tim
e: it filled four entire volumes. Today, mathematicians are less concerned with
determinants than they once were. As one widely used textbook says, "After all,
a single number can tell only so much about a matrix."
Real-life Applications
DIGITAL IMAGES
A digital camera produces a matrix of numbers when it takes a picture. The lens
of the camera focuses an image on a flat rectangular surface covered with tiny l
ight-sensitive electronic devices. The devices detect the color and brightness o
f the image in focus, and this information is saved as a matrix of numbers in th
e camera's memory. When a picture is downloaded from a camera to a computer and
altered using image-editing software, it is subjected to mathematical manipulati
ons described by matrix algebra. The picture may also be "compressed" so as to t
ake up less computer memory or transmit over the Internet more quickly. When an
image is compressed, the similarities between some of the numbers in its origina
l matrix are used to generate a smaller matrix that takes up less memory but des
cribes the same image with as little of image sharpness lost as possible.
FLYING THE SPACE SHUTTLE
In the early days of flight, pilots pushed and pulled on a joystick connected to
wires. The wires ran over pulleys to the wings and rudder, which steered the pl
ane. It would not be possible to fly as complex a craft as the Space Shuttle, wh
ich is steered not only by movable pieces of wing, but by 44 thruster jets, by d
irectly mechanical means like these. Steering must be done by computer, in respo
nse to measurements of astronaut hand pressure on controls. In this method the f
light computer combines measurements from sensors that detect how the ship is mo
ving with measurements from the controls. These measurements are fed through the
flight computers of the Shuttle as vectors, that is, as n × 1 matrices, where the
measurements from ship and pilot are the numbers in the vectors. The ship's com
puter performs calculations on these vectors using matrix algebra in order to de
cide how to move the control surfaces (moveable parts of the wing and tail) and
how to fire the 44 steering jets.
POPULATION BIOLOGY
One of the things that biologists try to do is predict how populations of animal
s change in the wild. This is known as the study of population dynamics because
in science or math, anything that is changing or moving is in a "dynamic" state.
In population biology, a matrix equation describes how many members of a popula
tion shift from one stage of their reproductive life to the next, year to year.
Such a matrix equation has appeared in the debate over whether the spotted owl o
f the Pacific Northwest (United States) is endangered or not. If the numbers of
juvenile, subadult, and adult owls in year k are written as Jk, Sk, and Ak, resp
ectively (where the small letters are labels to mark the year), and if the popul
ations for the next year, year k + 1, are written as Jk+1, Sk+1, and Ak+1, then
biologists have found that the following matrix equation relates one years' popu
lation to the next:

By analyzing this equation using advanced tools of matrix algebra such as eigenv
alues, biologists have shown that if recent rates of decline of habitat loss (ca
used by clearcutting) continue, the spotted owl may be doomed to extinction. Owl
s, like all predators, need large areas of land in which to hunt for spotted owls,
about 4 square miles per breeding pair.
DESIGNING CARS
Before the 1970s, car makers designed new cars by making first drawings, then ph
ysical models, then the actual cars. Since the 1970s, they have also used a tool
called computer-aided design (CAD). CAD is now taught in many high schools usin
g software far more sophisticated than was available to the big auto makers in t
he beginning, but the principles are the same. In automotive CAD, the first step
is still a drawing by an artist using their imagination a design for how the car
will look, often scrawled on paper. When a new image has been agreed on, the nex
t step is the creation of a "wireframe" model. The wireframe model is a mass of
lines, defined by numbers stored in matrices, that outline the shape of every ma
jor part of the car. The numbers specify the three-dimensional coordinates of en
ough points on the surface of the car to define its shape. The wire-frame model
may be created directly or by using lasers to scan a clay model in three dimensi
ons. The wireframe car model is stored as a collection of many matrices, each de
scribing one part. This model can be displayed, rotated, and adjusted for good l
ooks. More importantly, by using matrix-based mathematical techniques called fin
ite element methods, the car company can use the wireframe model to predict how
the design will behave in crashes and how smoothly air will flow over it when it
is in motion (which affects how much gas the car uses). These features can be e
xperimentally improved by changing numbers in matrices rather than by building e
xpensive test models.
Where to Learn More
Books
Lay, David C. Linear Algebra and its Applications, 2nd ed. New York: Addison-Wes
ley, 1999.
Strang, Gilbert. Linear Algebra and its Applications, 3rd ed. New York: Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1988.
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