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Overview of Mathematics and Its Fields

Mathematics is the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. It uses patterns and logical reasoning to formulate and prove conjectures. When mathematical models accurately describe real phenomena, mathematics can provide insights and predictions about nature. Mathematics has developed from practical applications involving counting, measurement, and the study of shapes and motions, and rigorous logical arguments in mathematics began with Euclidian geometry. Since the late 19th century, mathematics has increasingly been viewed as establishing truths through logical deduction from axioms and definitions. Applied mathematics has led to entirely new fields and mathematics informs many areas of science, engineering, medicine, finance, and social science.

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17 views1 page

Overview of Mathematics and Its Fields

Mathematics is the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. It uses patterns and logical reasoning to formulate and prove conjectures. When mathematical models accurately describe real phenomena, mathematics can provide insights and predictions about nature. Mathematics has developed from practical applications involving counting, measurement, and the study of shapes and motions, and rigorous logical arguments in mathematics began with Euclidian geometry. Since the late 19th century, mathematics has increasingly been viewed as establishing truths through logical deduction from axioms and definitions. Applied mathematics has led to entirely new fields and mathematics informs many areas of science, engineering, medicine, finance, and social science.

Uploaded by

jason
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Mathematics (from Greek: μάθημα, máthēma, 'knowledge, study, learning') includes the study of

such topics as quantity (number theory),[1] structure (algebra),[2] space (geometry),


[1]
 and change (mathematical analysis).[3][4][5] It has no generally accepted definition.[6][7]
Mathematicians seek and use patterns[8][9] to formulate new conjectures; they resolve the truth or
falsity of such by mathematical proof. When mathematical structures are good models of real
phenomena, mathematical reasoning can be used to provide insight or predictions about nature.
Through the use of abstraction and logic, 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 from
as far back as written records exist. The research required to solve mathematical problems can take
years or even centuries of sustained inquiry.
Rigorous arguments first appeared in Greek mathematics, most notably in Euclid's Elements.
[10]
 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. 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 has continued to the present day.[11]
Mathematics is essential in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine, finance,
and the social sciences. Applied mathematics has led to entirely new mathematical disciplines, such
as statistics and game theory. Mathematicians engage in pure mathematics (mathematics for its own
sake) without having any application in mind, but practical applications for what began as pure
mathematics are often discovered later.[12][13]

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