Where does Math come from?

Answer 1

I think... wait...Its Greece
According to my math history book ("A History of Mathematics", by
Carl Boyer), Pythagoras is supposed to have come up with the word
Mathematics, which means "that which is learned." Yes--that's the
Pythagoras of the Pythagorean Theorem, which, incidentally, he didn't
make up. He was the head of a kind of math cult/religion/community/
school in what is now Italy, about 2500 years ago.
Every culture on earth has developed some mathematics. In some cases, this mathematics has spread from one culture to another. Now there is one predominant international mathematics, and this mathematics has quite a history. It has roots in ancient Egypt and Babylonia, then grew rapidly in ancient Greece. Mathematics written in ancient Greek was translated into Arabic. About the same time some mathematics of India was translated into Arabic. Later some of this mathematics was translated into Latin and became the mathematics of Western Europe. Over a period of several hundred years, it became the mathematics of the world.
There are other places in the world that developed significant mathematics, such as China, southern India, and Japan, and they are interesting to study, but the mathematics of the other regions have not had much influence on current international mathematics. There is, of course, much mathematics being done these and other regions, but it is not the traditional math of the regions, but international mathematics.

By far, the most significant development in mathematics was giving it firm logical foundations. This took place in ancient Greece in the centuries preceding Euclid. See Euclid's Elements. Logical foundations give mathematics more than just certainty-they are a tool to investigate the unknown.

By the 20th century the edge of that unknown had receded to where only a few could see. One was David Hilbert, a leading mathematician of the turn of the century. In 1900 he addressed the International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris, and described 23 important mathematical problems.

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.

Answer 2

Where Does Math Come From?
By Ian Hacking
The Nature of Mathematical Knowledge
by Philip Kitcher
Oxford University Press, 287 pp., $25.00

Philip Kitcher thinks that mathematics is surprisingly like empirical science. Few mathematicians would agree; philosophers too, from Socrates on, have held the opposite opinion. In mathematics, they have said, we are able to solve problems and construct proofs by pure thought, without any need to check out how the land lies. Yet we can use geometry for surveying; hence, somewhat mysteriously, the products of reasoning apply to the world. Philosophers have also said that anything that you prove in pure mathematics must be true. To put it metaphorically, not even God could create a world in which a theorem that we have demonstrated is false. Men such as Plato, Aquinas, Leibniz, Kant, Russell, and Wittgenstein have said such things. Almost the only famous dissenters from this established tradition were (until recently) Descartes and John Stuart Mill. Kitcher is on their side.

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Answer 3

Math exists only in our minds, it does not exist outside of it because it is abstract thought.

Math is a language, it is made up, defined to be what it is, it is NOT a science. (If you get a degree in mathematics in the USA, you will get a degree in Arts... like BA, MA, not in Science... unless you qualify for the science degree based upon other courses you took outside of math.)

In ancient times people counted their possessions... like how many sheeves of wheat did they bring in.. how many slaves.. how much corn.. etc.. so they developed counting... and numbers.

Later came addition ... which is basically just a shortened form of counting. (and subtraction which is basically a shortened form of counting backwards)

then came multiplication.. which is repeated addition. (and division... which is repeated subtraction)

sometime before the Romans changed their numbering system, the arabic language came up with arabic numbers.. and Zero...

ancient greeks developed geometry to help them in construction and other ventures.

the greeks also invented infinite series equations... that they used for finding solutions to complex problems.

Calculus was developed by Isaac Newton in order to solve equations faster... prior to Calculus people used Series calculations and performed myriads of calculations to get an answer .... while Calculus enables us to get exact answers with much less effort (in MY opinion.. Calculus opened up mathematics to Major expansion... and is the greatest invention in math)

I'm sure if you did a yahoo search for "history of mathematics" you would probably find something better... but I think this is basically true.

Answer 4

"I don't know or want to know because I like to ask people if they want fries with that."

yes that's pretty much it...

Math does not "come" from anywhere, it just a natural logic going back to "If I have 3 sheep, and give you 1 sheep, I will have 2 sheep left"...or something like that...

The people that understood it became very wealthy (just like today)...and the people that didn't often got taken or were poor (just like today).

Answer 5

the governor is definitely right...

beside, math is not only fact, but also part of imagination...

but, if there are no humans, no one will discover math too, isn't it?

^_^

Answer 6

It doesn't come from anywhere. It has been there and always will be there. It was proven to exist without humans.

Answer 7

It came from arithmetic. ( which was algebra and fractions and math put together)

Answer 8

the Aztec Indians. along with cannibalism.

Answer 9

It arose from Man's need to take stock of his posessions.

Answer 10

K-mart