Compilation of Mathematicians and Their Contributions

Columbus’ postulation that the world was not flat because any educated person in that time new that the world was round.

-Rosetta Stone is discovered. -Charles Macintosh invented waterproof cloth. -Hans Ørsted finds aluminum.

One of Thales’ most renounced findings include his discovery in geometric studies in the area reading the rules of triangles. He came to the conclusion that if the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal, the sum of the angles of a triangle are equivalent to two right angles. With the application of “geometric principles to life situations, Thales was able to calculate the height of a pyramid by measuring its shadow, and the distance of a boat to the shore, by using the concept of similar triangles” (pg. 5, Muehlbauer). Realizations such as these helped shape the beginning for the formation of natural law based on observations of the world through explanation.

Speaking of triangle’s Pythagoras’ most famous contribution to the world of mathematics, The Pythagorean Theorem was proved during this time period. Pythagoras did not create the Theorem, the creation is credited to the Babylonians and Indians, however Pythagoras was the first man to successfully prove the Theorem. The iconic equation looks like

During this time he was tested to see what skills he had, the results show that he was very good in all categories, but he was especially excellent in mathematics. When he was

Geometry is present in art since prehistoric times. Primitive people showed an intuitive notion of geometry in their own

Miletus was also a great cultural center and produced many great citizens with different and new innovations that helped both Ionia and Greece. Thales of Miletus was one of the wisest men of the ancient times. He is seen as the father of Pre-Socratic Greek philosophy. He applied his knowledge of the natural causes of the world and originated the science of metaphysics. Thales will be followed by other great thinkers like the philosophers Anaximander, who learned from Thales, and Anaximenes, who was a student of Anaximander. They also had influence in the other humanities like the historian Hecataeus who was interested in geography, and the poet Phocylides who was known for his honest words, and the famous city-planner

Galileo devised his own telescope, in which he observed the moon and found Venus had phases like the moon, proving it rotated around the sun.

Plato was born into an aristocratic family and later became a disciple of Socrates, eventually witnessing the philosopher 's execution in 399BC, he feared for his safety and went travelling to Italy and Egypt. He returned to Athens after his travels and founded the first European university, the Academy. There, astronomy, biology, mathematics, politics and philosophy were taught, with Aristotle as the most famous student. He also compared the state and the individual, stating they both consisted of three parts: the desiring, the spirited and the rational. If they are all in harmony but ruled by the rational you have justice. He went further to construct many statements that have been quoted throughout history in reference to issues of the times, one being ‘ The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men’

Greek philosopher Thales is often considered the first scientist because of his discoveries regarding the laws of nature. He questioned the commonly accepted idea that the world was in chaos and merely at the whim of the gods. He was one of the first to suggest that it was instead a complex yet

To say that identity is “transitive” means that if X is numerically identical with Y, and Y is numerically identical with Z, then it follows that X = Z. For example, if Hesperus = Venus, and Phosphorus = Venus, then Hesperus = Phosphorus, which all express that Venus = Venus.

About two centuries after Aristotle, Hipparchus showed that the model better predicted the motion of the heavens if the Earth was placed slightly off the centre of rotation of the celestial spheres. Apollonius also proposed that the planets changed their speed through the heavens and sometimes stopped and travelled backwards.

In 1543 Nicholas Copernicus, a Polish Canon, published “On the Revolution of the Celestial Orbs”. The popular view is that Copernicus discovered that the earth revolves

     From the period of 1145AD – the late 16th century, many mathematicians developed on algebraic concepts. However, it was not until the 1680’s that the most remarkable discoveries were made using algebra. Sir Isaac Newton was a very famous mathematician, English physicist, astronomer, philosopher, and alchemist. During his period of study, he used algebra to describe universal gravitation, develop the laws of motion, found orbits of the planets to be elliptical, discovered that light was made of particles, discovered the rate of cooling objects, and the binomial theorem. His most important works were the development of calculus. However, Newton did not work alone on creating the

Mathematics has contributed to the alteration of technology over many years. The most noticeable mathematical technology is the evolution of the abacus to the many variations of the calculator. Some people argue that the changes in technology have been for the better while others argue they have been for the worse. While this paper does not address specifically technology, this paper rather addresses influential persons in philosophy to the field of mathematics. In order to understand the impact of mathematics, this paper will delve into the three philosophers of the past who have contributed to this academic. In this paper, I will cover the views of three philosophers of mathematics encompassing their