Evolution of Mathematical Concepts

Evolution of Mathematical Concepts PDF Author: Raymond L. Wilder
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486490610
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Accessible to students and relevant to specialists, this remarkable book by a prominent educator offers a unique perspective on the evolutionary development of mathematics. Rather than conducting a survey of the history or philosophy of mathematics, Raymond L. Wilder envisions mathematics as a broad cultural phenomenon. His treatment examines and illustrates how such concepts as number and length were affected by historic and social events. Starting with a brief consideration of preliminary notions, this study explores the early evolution of numbers, the evolution of geometry, and the conquest of the infinite as embodied by real numbers. A detailed look at the processes of evolution concludes with an examination of the evolutionary aspects of modern mathematics.

Evolution of Mathematical Concepts

Evolution of Mathematical Concepts PDF Author: Raymond L. Wilder
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486490610
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
Accessible to students and relevant to specialists, this remarkable book by a prominent educator offers a unique perspective on the evolutionary development of mathematics. Rather than conducting a survey of the history or philosophy of mathematics, Raymond L. Wilder envisions mathematics as a broad cultural phenomenon. His treatment examines and illustrates how such concepts as number and length were affected by historic and social events. Starting with a brief consideration of preliminary notions, this study explores the early evolution of numbers, the evolution of geometry, and the conquest of the infinite as embodied by real numbers. A detailed look at the processes of evolution concludes with an examination of the evolutionary aspects of modern mathematics.

Evolution of Mathematical Concepts

Evolution of Mathematical Concepts PDF Author: Raymond Louis Wilder
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Incorporated
ISBN: 9780470944134
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Treating mathematical science as a distinct cultural entity subject to environmental factors which influence its evolution, the author examines the creation and development of its major concepts since early times

Dynamical Systems and Evolution Equations

Dynamical Systems and Evolution Equations PDF Author: John A. Walker
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1468410369
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This book grew out of a nine-month course first given during 1976-77 in the Division of Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas (Austin), and repeated during 1977-78 in the Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University. Most of the students were in their second year of graduate study, and all were familiar with Fourier series, Lebesgue integration, Hilbert space, and ordinary differential equa tions in finite-dimensional space. This book is primarily an exposition of certain methods of topological dynamics that have been found to be very useful in the analysis of physical systems but appear to be well known only to specialists. The purpose of the book is twofold: to present the material in such a way that the applications-oriented reader will be encouraged to apply these methods in the study of those physical systems of personal interest, and to make the coverage sufficient to render the current research literature intelligible, preparing the more mathematically inclined reader for research in this particular area of applied mathematics. We present only that portion of the theory which seems most useful in applications to physical systems. Adopting the view that the world is deterministic, we consider our basic problem to be predicting the future for a given physical system. This prediction is to be based on a known equation of evolution, describing the forward-time behavior of the system, but it is to be made without explicitly solving the equation.

The Development of Mathematics

The Development of Mathematics PDF Author: E. T. Bell
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486152286
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 657

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Book Description
Time-honored study by a prominent scholar of mathematics traces decisive epochs from the evolution of mathematical ideas in ancient Egypt and Babylonia to major breakthroughs in the 19th and 20th centuries. 1945 edition.

The Beginnings and Evolution of Algebra

The Beginnings and Evolution of Algebra PDF Author: Isabella Bashmakova
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470457229
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
The elements of algebra were known to the ancient mesopotamians at least 4000 years ago. Today, algebra stands as one of the cornerstones of modern mathematics. How then did the subject evolve? An illuminating read for historians of mathematics and working algebraists looking into the history of their subject.

Mathematical Models of Social Evolution

Mathematical Models of Social Evolution PDF Author: Richard McElreath
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226558282
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 429

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Book Description
Over the last several decades, mathematical models have become central to the study of social evolution, both in biology and the social sciences. But students in these disciplines often seriously lack the tools to understand them. A primer on behavioral modeling that includes both mathematics and evolutionary theory, Mathematical Models of Social Evolution aims to make the student and professional researcher in biology and the social sciences fully conversant in the language of the field. Teaching biological concepts from which models can be developed, Richard McElreath and Robert Boyd introduce readers to many of the typical mathematical tools that are used to analyze evolutionary models and end each chapter with a set of problems that draw upon these techniques. Mathematical Models of Social Evolution equips behaviorists and evolutionary biologists with the mathematical knowledge to truly understand the models on which their research depends. Ultimately, McElreath and Boyd’s goal is to impart the fundamental concepts that underlie modern biological understandings of the evolution of behavior so that readers will be able to more fully appreciate journal articles and scientific literature, and start building models of their own.

What is a Mathematical Concept?

What is a Mathematical Concept? PDF Author: Elizabeth de Freitas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107134633
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
Leading thinkers in mathematics, philosophy and education offer new insights into the fundamental question: what is a mathematical concept?

A History of Vector Analysis

A History of Vector Analysis PDF Author: Michael J. Crowe
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486679101
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Prize-winning study traces the rise of the vector concept from the discovery of complex numbers through the systems of hypercomplex numbers to the final acceptance around 1910 of the modern system of vector analysis.

Reconstructing Evolution

Reconstructing Evolution PDF Author: Olivier Gascuel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199208220
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
Evolution is a complex process, acting at multiple scales, from DNA sequences and proteins to populations of species. Understanding and reconstructing evolution is of major importance in numerous subfields of biology. For example, phylogenetics and sequence evolution is central to comparative genomics, attempts to decipher genomes, and molecular epidemiology. Phylogenetics is also the focal point of large-scale international biodiversity assessment initiatives such as the 'Tree ofLife' project, which aims to build the evolutionary tree for all extant species.Since the pioneering work in phylogenetics in the 1960s, models have become increasingly sophisticated to account for the inherent complexity of evolution. They rely heavily on mathematics and aim at modelling and analyzing biological phenomena such as horizontal gene transfer, heterogeneity of mutation, and speciation and extinction processes. This book presents these recent models, their biological relevance, their mathematical basis, their properties, and the algorithms to infer them fromdata. A number of subfields from mathematics and computer science are involved: combinatorics, graph theory, stringology, probabilistic and Markov models, information theory, statistical inference, Monte Carlo methods, continuous and discrete algorithmics.This book arises from the Mathematics of Evolution & Phylogenetics meeting at the Mathematical Institute Henri Poincaré, Paris, in June 2005 and is based on the outstanding state-of-the-art reports presented by the conference speakers. Ten chapters - based around five themes - provide a detailed overview of key topics, from the underlying concepts to the latest results, some of which are at the forefront of current research.

Republic of Numbers

Republic of Numbers PDF Author: David Lindsay Roberts
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN: 1421433087
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
This fascinating narrative history of math in America introduces readers to the diverse and vibrant people behind pivotal moments in the nation's mathematical maturation. Once upon a time in America, few knew or cared about math. In Republic of Numbers, David Lindsay Roberts tells the story of how all that changed, as America transformed into a powerhouse of mathematical thinkers. Covering more than 200 years of American history, Roberts recounts the life stories of twenty-three Americans integral to the evolution of mathematics in this country. Beginning with self-taught Salem mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch's unexpected breakthroughs in ocean navigation and closing with the astounding work Nobel laureate John Nash did on game theory, this book is meant to be read cover to cover. Revealing the marvelous ways in which America became mathematically sophisticated, the book introduces readers to Kelly Miller, the first black man to attend Johns Hopkins, who brilliantly melded mathematics and civil rights activism; Izaak Wirszup, a Polish immigrant who survived the Holocaust and proceeded to change the face of American mathematical education; Grace Hopper, the "Machine Whisperer," who pioneered computer programming; and many other relatively unknown but vital figures. As he brings American history and culture to life, Roberts also explains key mathematical concepts, from the method of least squares, propositional logic, quaternions, and the mean-value theorem to differential equations, non-Euclidean geometry, group theory, statistical mechanics, and Fourier analysis. Republic of Numbers will appeal to anyone who is interested in learning how mathematics has intertwined with American history.