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Euclid
Mathematics is the study of numbers, quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity. The research required to solve mathematical problems can take years or even centuries of sustained inquiry. However, mathematical proofs are less formal and painstaking than proofs in mathematical logic. Since the pioneering work of Giuseppe Peano (1858–1932), David Hilbert (1862–1943), and others on axiomatic systems in the late 19th century, it has become customary to view mathematical research as establishing truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions. When those mathematical structures are good models of real phenomena, then mathematical reasoning often provides insight or predictions. Through the use of abstraction and logical reasoning, mathematics developed from counting, calculation, measurement, and the systematic study of the shapes and motions of physical objects. Practical mathematics has been a human activity for as far back as written records exist. Rigorous arguments first appeared in Greek mathematics, most notably in Euclid's Elements. Mathematics developed at a relatively slow pace until the Renaissance, when mathematical innovations interacting with new scientific discoveries led to a rapid increase in the rate of mathematical discovery that continues to the present day. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) said, "The universe cannot be read until we have learned the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word. Without these, one is wandering about in a dark labyrinth". Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) referred to mathematics as "the queen of sciences". The mathematician Benjamin Peirce (1809–1880) called the discipline, "the science that draws necessary conclusions". David Hilbert said of it: "We are not speaking here of arbitrariness in any sense. Mathematics is not like a game whose tasks are determined by arbitrarily stipulated rules. Rather, it is a conceptual system possessing internal necessity that can only be so and by no means otherwise." Albert Einstein (1879–1955) stated that "as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality". Mathematics is used throughout the world as an essential tool in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine, and the social sciences. Applied mathematics, the branch of mathematics concerned with application of mathematical knowledge to other fields, inspires and makes use of new mathematical discoveries and sometimes leads to the development of entirely new mathematical disciplines, such as statistics and game theory. Mathematicians also engage in pure mathematics, or mathematics for its own sake, without having any application in mind. There is no clear line separating pure and applied mathematics, and practical applications for what began as pure mathematics are often discovered. There are approximately 28863 mathematics articles in Wikipedia. View new selections below (purge)
| The four charts each map part of the circle to an open interval, and together cover the whole circle. Image credit: User:KSmrq |
A manifold is an abstract mathematical space in which every point has a neighborhood which resembles Euclidean space, but in which the global structure may be more complicated. In discussing manifolds, the idea of dimension is important. For example, lines are one-dimensional, and planes two-dimensional. In a one dimensional manifold (or one-manifold), every point has a neighborhood that looks like a segment of a line. Examples of one-manifolds include a line, a circle, and two separate circles. In a two-manifold, every point has a neighborhood that looks like a disk. Examples include a plane, the surface of a sphere, and the surface of a torus. Manifolds are important objects in mathematics and physics because they allow more complicated structures to be expressed and understood in terms of the relatively well-understood properties of simpler spaces. View all selected articles | Read More... |
edit Picture of the monthCredit: Endlessoblivion 1000th row of Pascal's triangle. One coefficient per row, aligned to the right, one digit per pixel, colored in 10 shades of gray from white (digit 0) to black (digit 9). Algebra | Arithmetic | Analysis | Complex analysis | Applied mathematics | Calculus | Category theory | Chaos theory | Combinatorics | Dynamic systems | Fractals | Game theory | Geometry | Algebraic geometry | Graph theory | Group theory | Linear algebra | Mathematical logic | Model Theory | Multi-dimensional geometry | Number theory | Numerical analysis | Optimization | Order theory | Probability and statistics | Set theory | Statistics | Topology | Algebraic topology | Trigonometry
Mathematics (books) | History of mathematics | Mathematicians | Awards | Education | Institutes and societies | Literature | Notation | Theorems | Proofs | Unsolved problems ▼ Mathematics ► Mathematics-related lists ► Mathematics and culture ► Philosophy of mathematics ► Mathematical problem solving ► Recreational mathematics ► Mathematical terminology More mathematics categories - ...that as of April 2010 only 35 even numbers have been found that are not the sum of two primes which are each in a Twin Primes pair? ref
- ...the Piphilology record (memorizing digits of Pi) is in excess of 67000 as of Apr 2010?
- ...with a Perrin number denoted P(i), i=1,2,3..., when i is prime then P(i) is composite, being divisible by i?
- ...that Auction theory was successfully used in 1994 to sell FCC airwave spectrum, in a financial application of game theory?
- ...properties of Pascal's triangle have application in many fields of mathematics including combinatorics, algebra, calculus and geometry?
- ...work in artificial intelligence makes use of Swarm intelligence, which has foundations in the behavorial examples found in nature of ants, birds, bees, and fish among others?
- ...that statistical properties dictated by Benford's Law are used in auditing of financial accounts as one means of detecting fraud?
- ...that Modular arithmetic has application in at least ten different fields of study, including the arts, computer science, and chemistry in addition to mathematics?
- ... that according to Kawasaki's theorem, an origami crease pattern with one vertex may be folded flat if and only if the sum of every other angle between consecutive creases is 180º?
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The Mathematics WikiProject is the center for mathematics-related editing on Wikipedia. Join the discussion on the project's talk page. Project pages - Participants
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edit Topics in mathematicsGeneral | Foundations | Number theory | Discrete mathematics |
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edit Index of mathematics articlesARTICLE INDEX: | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0-9 | MATHEMATICIANS: | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
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