Discovering the Tales of the Past

What comes up in your mind when you heard the word “Mathematics”? Probably the answer will be about numbers, shape or arithmetic. What will be your answer when someone asked you what can you say about math? Some lazy dudes would say it’s difficult, confusing and complicated. Some geeky guys would say that it’s interesting, fun and remarkable. But have we ever wondered where it all started and came from? The answer would be a big no.

              I never wondered how mathematics started and where it came from. Until one day during our math 1 subject, we were required to watch “The Story of Maths” during our class. First impression about the documentary, it’s gonna be a boring one. I am partly right! It bored me because I cannot fully understand what the narrator/host is saying and there were no subtitles. Since we were required to make a reaction about the movie, I am forced to download it and watched it again in our boarding house. At this point, I've become interested with the movie and took note about the quote “Understanding math is a difference between life and death” (I wonder how true it can be).

             The movie was about how the three ancient civilizations contributed to the modern mathematics. The first civilization is the Egyptian. They contributed about numbers, counting, measurement, fraction and value of pi. What really caught my attention during the Egyptian part was how the people in ancient Egypt applied it to their simple lives. For instance, they used their palms and arms to measure the land area where they can toil. They also had a unique style of multiplication. Even I keep on repeating that part of the movie; I still cannot understand how it works. It is also amazing how that each part of the eye of Horus had a specific value in fraction. One thing I really like about Egypt is their pyramids. The movie state on how the Egyptians calculated for the pyramid where it can be found in the ancient papyrus collected. I am happy of this information because I’m so tired of reading some blogs in the net that the pyramids might be made by aliens.

           Another civilization discussed in the movie was the Babylonian. They contributed for the mathematical equations, quadratic equation and clay tablet, as their records of some mathematical problems. The Babylonians used a base 60 number system which can be the basis of the 60 minutes or seconds in a clock. They also developed a calendar based on the cycle of moon. One thing that makes me wonder is when the 1 1 1 in their number system has and equivalent of 3661 in the modern number system. Another thing that caught my interest is when the movie discussed about board games such as backgammon. The backgammon is a game I played in the cellular phone of my father when I was a child and I really don’t know how to win the game on purpose not by chance. I was shocked that game requires tactical mathematics to win.

                Greek civilization, the third civilization discussed. They contributed on geometry, theorems and the discovery of irrational numbers. They developed the Pythagorean Theorem with the help of the mind of Pythagorus. Now, I can say that Pythagorus is one of the people that made my life complicated at some point.

           In general, the movie gave us some interesting facts that may influence us. It is a story of how necessity can develop knowledge such as math. Thus, mathematics is a vast knowledge that needed to explore in a more detailed way.