MATH 201 History and Philosophy of Mathematics

Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Jose P. Laurel Polytechnic College
Malvar, Batangas
College of Teacher Education
History and Philosophy of Mathematics
GREEK MATHEMATICS
Though the Greeks inherited their concept of numbers and numeral system from the
Babylonians, they built a culture and civilization on their own which is the most impressive of all
civilizations, the most influential in Western culture and the most decisive in founding
mathematics as we know it. From the viewpoint of its mathematics, it is best to distinguish
between the two periods: the classical period from about 600BC to 300BC and the
Alexandrian or Hellenistic period from 300BC to 300AD. Indeed, from about 350BC, the
center of mathematics moved from Athens to Alexandria (in Egypt), the city built by Alexander
the Great (358 323BC). It remained the center of mathematics for a millennium until the library
was sacked by the Muslims (700AD). About 775BC, they changed from a hieroglyphic writing
to the Phoenician alphabet. This allowed them to become more literate or at least more facile
in their ability to express conceptual thought.
A. Major Schools of Greek Mathematics
a. The Ionian School was founded by Thales (643 546 BC)
b. The Pythagorean School was founded by Pythagoras (about 585 BC)
c. The Eleatic School was led at one time by Zeno.
d. The Platonic School, the most famous of all, was founded by Plato (387 BC)
e. The School of Eudoxus founded by Eudoxus (408 BC)
f. The School of Aristotle, called the Lyceum, founded by Aristotle (384 322
BC)
B. Sources of Greek Mathematics
a. Byzantine Greek codices (manuscript books) written 500 -1500 years after the
Greek words were composed.
b. Syriac or Arabic translations of Greek works and Latin translations of the Arabic
versions.
C. Greeks who wrote histories of Mathematics
a. Eudemus, a member of Aristotles school wrote histories of arithmetic, geometry
and astronomy.
b. Theophratus wrote history of physics.
c. Pappus wrote the Mathematical Collection, an account of classical mathematics
from Euclid to Ptolemy. He also wrote Treasury of Analysis, a collection of the
Greek works themselves.
d. Proclus wrote the Commentary, treating Book I of Euclid and contains quotations
due to Eudemus.
The word mathematics itself derives from the ancient Greek mathema meaning
subject of instruction. The study of mathematics for its own sake and the use of generalized
mathematical theories and proofs is the key difference between Greek mathematics and those of
preceding civilizations.
Because the Greeks had only very clumsy ways of writing down numbers, they didnt like
algebra. They found it very hard to write down equations or number problems. Instead, Greek
mathematicians were more focused on geometry and used geometric methods to solve problems
that you might use algebra for. Greek mathematicians were also very interested in proving
certain mathematical ideas true. So they spent a lot of time using geometry to prove that things
were always true, even though people like the Egyptians and Babylonians already knew that they
were true most of the tome anyway.
The ancient Greek numeral system, known as Attic or Herodianic numerals, was fully
developed by about 450 BC, and in regular use possibly as early as the 7th Century BC. It was a
base 10 system similar to the earlier Egyptian one (and even more similar to the
later Roman system), with symbols for 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 repeated as many times
needed to represent the desired number. Addition was done by totaling separately the symbols
(1s, 10s, 100s, etc).

MATH 201 History and Philosophy of Mathematics

GREEK MATHEMATICIANS
THALES of MILETUS
o Father of the deductive organization of mathematics
o first known Greek philosopher, scientist and mathematician although his occupation
was that of an engineer
o is credited with five theorems of elementary geometry
a circle is bisected by any diameter
the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal
the angles between two intersecting straight lines are equal
two triangles are congruent if they have two angles and one side equal
an angle in a semicircle is a right angle
PYTHAGORAS
o often regarded as the first pure mathematician
o studied properties of numbers such as even and odd numbers, triangular numbers,
perfect numbers
o regarded numerology and geometry as fundamental to understanding the nature of
the universe and therefore central to their philosophical and religious ideas.
o Established an order called Pythagoreans, which held knowledge and property in
common and hence all the discoveries by individual Pythagoreans were attributed
to the order. And since in antiquity it was customary to give all the credit to the
master, Pythagoras himself was given credit for the discoveries made by his order.
o list of theorems attributed to Pythagoras:
believed to have coined both the words "philosophy" ("love of wisdom") and
"mathematics" ("that which is learned")
the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles. Also the
Pythagoreans knew the generalization which states that a polygon with n
sides has sum of interior angles 2n-4 right angles and sum of exterior angles
equal to four right angles.
For a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the
squares on the other two sides. It was thought that the Babylonians 1200
years earlier knew this before but Pythagoras was the one to prove it. It is
said that this is the oldest number theory document in existence. This
theorem works for every right angled triangle.
Constructing figures of a given area and geometrical algebra
Discovery of irrationals
Five regular solids (prism, pyramid, cylinder, cone, sphere)
The earth was a sphere at the center of the Universe. He also recognized that
the orbit of the moon was inclined to the equator of the Earth and he was one
of the first to realize that Venus as an evening star was the same planet as
Venus as a morning star.
PLATO
o established his famous Academy in Athens in 387 BC
o Proposed the now famous Aristotelian syllogism ( a form of argument consisting
of two premises and a conclusion)
o Had ideas about continuous and infinite in mathematics

MATH 201 History and Philosophy of Mathematics

o
o

Discovered fundamental theorems concerning the center of gravity of plane figures

and solids
Known for his famous theorem called Archimedes principle where he gives the
weight of a body immersed in a liquid.

Perhaps the most important single contribution of the Greeks, though Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle were all influential in this respect - was the idea of proof, and the
deductive method of using logical steps to prove or disprove theorems from initial assumed
axioms. Older cultures, like the Egyptians and the Babylonians, had relied on inductive reasoning
that is using repeated observations to establish rules of thumb. It is this concept of proof that
give mathematics its power and ensures that proven theories are as true today as they were two
thousand years ago, and which laid the foundations for the systematic approach to mathematics
of Euclid and those who came after
him.
EUCLID of ALEXANDRIA
most prominent ancient mathematician best known for his expertise on mathematics The
Elements
referred to as Father of Geometry
in Euclids method, deductions are made from premises or axioms. This deductive method
was the sole procedure used for demonstrating scientific certitude (truth) until the
seventeenth century
Euclid also wrote the following books:
o Data (with 94 propositions) which looks at what properties of figures can be
deduced when other properties are given;
o On Divisions which looks at constructions to divide a figure into two parts with
areas of given ratio;
o Optics which is the first Greek work on perspective; and
o Phenomena which is an elementary introduction to mathematical astronomy and
gives results on the times stars in certain positions will rise and set.
Outline of Elements
Book 1 contains Euclids 10 axioms and the basic propositions of geometry.
Book 2 is commonly called the book of geometric algebra because most of the propositions can
be seen as geometric interpretations of algebraic identities. It also contains a method of
finding the square root of a given number.
Book 3 deals with circles and their properties: inscribed angles, tangents, the power of a point,
Thales Theorem.
Book 4 constructs the circle and circumference of a triangle, and constructs a regular polygon
with 4, 5, 6 and 15 sides.
Book 5 is a treatise on proportions and magnitude.
Book 6 applies proportions to geometry.
Book 7 deals strictly with elementary number theory: divisibility, prime numbers, Euclids
algorithm for finding the GCF, LCM.
Book 8 deals with propositions in number theory.
Book 9 applies the results of the preceding 2 books and gives the infinitude of prime numbers,
the sum of geometric propositions and the construction of even perfect number.
Book 10 attempts to classify irrational magnitudes by using method of exhaustion, a precursor
to integration.
Book 11 generalizes the results of Book 1-6 to space: perpendicularity, parallelism, volumes of
parallelepipeds.
Book 12 studies volumes of cones, pyramids and cylinders in detail. It concludes by showing the
volume of sphere is proportional to the cube of its radius by approximating it by a union of
many pyramids.
Book 13 constructs the 5 regular platonic solids inscribed in a sphere, calculates the ration of
their edges to the radius of the sphere and proves that there are no further regular solids.
Prepared by:
Ms. Rensie Vique F. Falculan
Instructor