An end of a story but, the beginning of a new journey

Through the years mathematics has been searching for answers and solutions to different problems because it is in the nature of mathematicians and mathematics itself the principle that every problem has a solution.This idea makes the world of mathematics going. It was shown in the “Story of Maths part IV; to infinity and beyond” how problems had inspired the minds and hearts of different mathematicians. It was through these problems that great answers were obtained beyond what was expected which had indeed not only helped the world of mathematics but also our entire universe.

In the last episode of the story of maths, Professor Marcus du Sautoy discussed about the core and ultimate importance of mathematics. He introduced the 23 most important problems that mathematicians should solve which was created by the famous mathematician David Hilbert. This said 23 problems had been famous in the world of math for mathematicians had been searching for different answer and solutions to these problems. Some problems were already solved but there are still problems that are yet to be answered.

The first problem was the continuum hypothesis which states that; is there any infinity sitting between the smaller infinity of all the whole numbers and the larger infinity of the decimals. The first problem was solved by Georg Cantor, the first person who had defined the true meaning of infinity. Before Cantor no one could understand the underlying principles behind infinity. It was also mentioned that Hilbert was a mathematician who considers all men no matter what race, color, beliefs you have you can learn and appreciate mathematics in other words “math is for all”.

He had also mentioned Henri Poincare’s work on chaos theory which he had accidentally discovered while he was solving a different problem. Another same incident had happen when a mathematician was trying to prove Cantor’s second problem but accidentally he had created a theory called the incompleteness theory. This mathematician was Kurt Godel who stated that unknowable is integral or is an essential part of mathematics.

Due to some political disturbance the days of mathematical glory after 500 years in Europe had led to an end. But that did not end there, the story of math continued in America where an institute was opened for different European exiles. Here famous mathematicians like Albert Einstein and Kurt Godel continued their journey. Through the years many mathematicians had been solving and had solved Henri’s different problems.

This last episode had concluded what math really is. Now, I understand why mathematics is complicated. All this time mathematics has been solving intricate problems that are indeed hard to solve to answer and understand the entire different phenomenon this universe encompasses. As a student who only value math for the sake of it being a requisite for my different academe the four episode of the story of maths had been helpful to me to understand and appreciate the principles and the story behind mathematics.