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Jump to navigationJump to searchNew page: '''Mathematics''' (colloquially, '''maths''' or '''math'''), is the body of knowledge centered on such concepts as quantity, structure, space, and change, and also the acad...
'''Mathematics''' (colloquially, '''maths''' or '''math'''), is the body of knowledge centered on such concepts as [[quantity]], [[structure]], [[space]], and [[change]], and also the academic discipline that studies them. [[Benjamin Peirce]] called it "the science that draws necessary conclusions".Peirce, p.97
Other practitioners of mathematics [[Lynn Steen|Steen, L.A.]] (April 29, 1988). ''The Science of Patterns.'' [[Science (journal)|Science]], 240: 611–616. and summarized at [http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/template.chapter/menuitem.1889bf0176da7573127855b3e3108a0c/?chapterMgmtId=f97433df69abb010VgnVCM1000003d01a8c0RCRD Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.][[Keith Devlin|Devlin, Keith]], ''Mathematics: The Science of Patterns: The Search for Order in Life, Mind and the Universe'' (Scientific American Paperback Library) 1996, ISBN 9780716750475 maintain that mathematics is the science of pattern, that [[mathematician]]s seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere. Mathematicians explore such concepts, aiming to formulate new [[conjecture]]s and establish their truth by [[Rigour#Mathematical rigour|rigorous]] [[deductive reasoning|deduction]] from appropriately chosen [[axiom]]s and [[definition]]s.
Through the use of [[abstraction (mathematics)|abstraction]] and [[logic]]al [[reasoning]], mathematics evolved from [[counting]], [[calculation]], [[measurement]], and the systematic study of the [[shape]]s and [[motion (physics)|motion]]s of physical objects. Knowledge and use of basic mathematics have always been an inherent and integral part of individual and group life. Refinements of the basic ideas are visible in mathematical texts originating in [[ancient Egypt]], [[Mesopotamia]], [[History of India|ancient India]], [[ancient China]], and [[ancient Greece]]. Rigorous arguments first appear in [[Euclid]]'s [[Euclid's Elements|''Elements'']]. The development continued in fitful bursts until the [[Renaissance]] period of the [[16th century]], when mathematical innovations interacted with new [[scientific discoveries]], leading to an acceleration in research that continues to the present day.
Today, mathematics is used throughout the world in many fields, including [[natural science]], [[engineering]], [[medicine]], and the [[social science]]s such as [[economics]]. [[Applied mathematics]], the application of mathematics to such fields, inspires and makes use of new mathematical discoveries and sometimes leads to the development of entirely new disciplines. Mathematicians also engage in [[pure mathematics]], or mathematics for its own sake, without having any application in mind, although applications for what began as pure mathematics are often discovered later.
[[Category: Formal Sciences]]
Other practitioners of mathematics [[Lynn Steen|Steen, L.A.]] (April 29, 1988). ''The Science of Patterns.'' [[Science (journal)|Science]], 240: 611–616. and summarized at [http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/template.chapter/menuitem.1889bf0176da7573127855b3e3108a0c/?chapterMgmtId=f97433df69abb010VgnVCM1000003d01a8c0RCRD Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.][[Keith Devlin|Devlin, Keith]], ''Mathematics: The Science of Patterns: The Search for Order in Life, Mind and the Universe'' (Scientific American Paperback Library) 1996, ISBN 9780716750475 maintain that mathematics is the science of pattern, that [[mathematician]]s seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere. Mathematicians explore such concepts, aiming to formulate new [[conjecture]]s and establish their truth by [[Rigour#Mathematical rigour|rigorous]] [[deductive reasoning|deduction]] from appropriately chosen [[axiom]]s and [[definition]]s.
Through the use of [[abstraction (mathematics)|abstraction]] and [[logic]]al [[reasoning]], mathematics evolved from [[counting]], [[calculation]], [[measurement]], and the systematic study of the [[shape]]s and [[motion (physics)|motion]]s of physical objects. Knowledge and use of basic mathematics have always been an inherent and integral part of individual and group life. Refinements of the basic ideas are visible in mathematical texts originating in [[ancient Egypt]], [[Mesopotamia]], [[History of India|ancient India]], [[ancient China]], and [[ancient Greece]]. Rigorous arguments first appear in [[Euclid]]'s [[Euclid's Elements|''Elements'']]. The development continued in fitful bursts until the [[Renaissance]] period of the [[16th century]], when mathematical innovations interacted with new [[scientific discoveries]], leading to an acceleration in research that continues to the present day.
Today, mathematics is used throughout the world in many fields, including [[natural science]], [[engineering]], [[medicine]], and the [[social science]]s such as [[economics]]. [[Applied mathematics]], the application of mathematics to such fields, inspires and makes use of new mathematical discoveries and sometimes leads to the development of entirely new disciplines. Mathematicians also engage in [[pure mathematics]], or mathematics for its own sake, without having any application in mind, although applications for what began as pure mathematics are often discovered later.
[[Category: Formal Sciences]]
