Getting to know the roots of Mathematics

               Math was never my favorite subject, but then again, I can't imagine my educational life without it. In fact, I can't imagine life without math at all. That would be very dull, and just impossible. But sometimes, math seems to be an antagonist in a typical person's life once it starts to break the upright mind upon reaching its limit to comprehend a mad math problem. You know that feeling of being unable to solve a particular mathematical equation no matter how hard you try? It's called devastation. I think almost everyone has experience this at least once in their lives unless they are really that gifted. It even came to a point when math has become a traumatic subject for me. I always check the time, and my butt can't always seem to wait for the bell to ring. But maybe, I didn't hate math all my life. Sometimes, I also feel good if I were able to solve a difficult math problem because it boosts my ego.

              In relation to the subject matter, I was never curious about the history of math. Before, I thought math just occurs naturally, that it has no beginning. I was that disinterested in math. And frankly, if I had the choice, maybe I wouldn't take this course. Nevertheless, I am still here and I don't have the choice but to embrace this fate. Who knows? Maybe God is up to something. I know I'm gonna learn a lot, it's just that, the idea of studying math history seems boring. Even just typing it makes me yawn.

               Perhaps the movie which was shown to us by Ma’am Cielo was a good head start for me to like math. It was presented well. Math was like a country because of its rich origin and culture. From the documentary, math originated way, way back thousand years ago in Egypt. They make use of math in their agriculture by recording the patterns of the seasons and keeping watch in the flooding of Nile because it is essential to their economy. Math was also use in taxation purposes and the Egyptians unusual method of division and multiplication using the hands was being introduced. Truly, the Egyptians’ brilliance and great interest in math was shown through the Moscow Papyrus, wherein their astounding understanding of binary numbers, fractions and solid shapes was evidently manifested.

                  Babylon, now Syria, was the second place that was featured. This place was also unique and also a great contribution in our math nowadays. Did you know that they have their own unique way of writing numbers? I observed how intricate their characters where which clearly shows how artistic the Babylonians are. But the most memorable contribution they gave in our lives was the 60 number system which is seen in our expression of time. They were the one responsible why we have 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour. The quadratic equation was also their idea which they use in measuring their land. These truths were truly amazing. How I wish I could have the chance to travel and see those stuff myself. I can’t also help to imagine how life would be like living in a young world. Unlike our world now, where everything seems to be easy and possible. Anyhow, I am still grateful I was born in this generation and I can’t wait what things would be like decades or centuries from now.

                   Anyway, the next place visited was, Greece. We all know that Greece was famous for their magical mythology. They were also known to be natural thinkers and even great mathematicians who include Socrates, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Euclid and Archimedes. Historians say that from this these people were credited in the beginning of the transformation from tool of counting into the analytical subject we know today. It is obvious that Pythagoras was the one who discovered the Pythagorean Theorem by his studies in the properties of right-angled triangles. He was also the one who discovered the occurrence of irrational numbers. Fascinating right? I wonder how he developed his great zeal he has for math. It was also astonishing to know that math has a great connection on musical instruments. He was the one who discovered that the intervals between harmonious musical notes are always in whole number intervals. Even the creation or production of metals, tools and weapons, mathematics is also applied.

                By watching this documentary movie about the origin of math, my mindset about it was a little bit changed.  Before, I thought that math only is a part of our world. Now my eyes were open to the fact that math is exhibited in every area of our lives, though not all the time it is obvious. We use it in our lives. We use it when we cook our food, when we estimate the amount of water and ingredients we put into the pan. It is use in building our houses, so that we can make sure that our houses are strongly-built. It was also use making clothes, building bridges, production of canned goods and perhaps just everything. But the biggest revelation that struck me in this film was the fact that math was interconnected with notes and music. I am a true blue music lover and this discovery of mine has a positive impact in my view of math. I can’t wait to see the continuation of the movie, though bluntly speaking; the accent of the host is like a lullaby to my ears.