Why Is Calculus Important

Being one of the greatest philosophers of his time, Pythagoras created a society of skilled mathematicians who worked together to facilitate mathematics, showed how numbers can be independent, and proved the Pythagorean theorem, making him iconic in mathematics today. His discoveries of simple yet essential methods are prevalent today throughout many mathematical fields in which they are treasured.

Pythagoras was the first person to really influence the founding of Calculus. He was an Ionian greek philosopher, mathematician, and has been credited as the founder of the movement called Pythagoreanism. Keep in mind he was born in 570 BC and died in 495 BC, so yeah, he’s kind of old. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him. He was born on the island of Samos, and traveled the world, visiting Egypt and Greece, and possibly India, and in 520 BC he returned Samos. Around 530 BC, he moves to Croton, in Magna Graecia, and there he established some kind of school or guild.

There was an unexpected explosion in the math and science world in the 17th century across Europe, known as the Age of Reasoning. Scientists such as Galileo, Brahe and Kepler continued to increase our knowledge on mathematics and science, especially the solar system which led to Kepler’s laws of planetary motion. Isaac Newton also discovered the laws of physics explaining Kepler’s Laws, and brought together the concepts now known as calculus. The invention of the logarithm by John Napier contributed to the advances of science and astronomy and was one of the most significant developments of this time. Rene Descartes development of analytical geometry and Cartesian coordinates allowed the orbits of the planets to be plotted. Other mathematicians such as Fermat and Pascal formulated theorems which extended our knowledge on number theory. Pascal is most famous for his Pascal triangle even though similar figures had been done by the Chinese and Persian mathematicians before him. Newton and Leibniz revolutionized mathematics by developing infinitesimal calculus. Much more credit should be given to many other mathematicians at this time, but as said before, this was a time of severe increase in mathematics and these are only a few of the most important discoveries. (15)

Historians debate that Heron’s most important work was the “Metrica”. The “Metrica” is a series of three books that included formulas and geometric rules that Heron had discovered. These formulas included how to find the areas and volumes of plane figures, as well as solid figures. Book I included one of the more famous formulas still used today. This formula was how to find the area of a

Pythagoras also contributed to the music world. He expressed the musical harmony in formulas. He created a scale layout with gongs in different sizes and he proved that in the resonance of the gongs he hit, 1 octave interval is equal to 2:1 proportion, the perfect fifth is equal to 3:2 proportion, perfect four is equal to 4:3 proportion and whole notes are equal to 9:8. This, later started to be known as “Pythagorean Tuning.”

Hipparchus was a greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician born 190 B.C. in Nicaea and died in 120 B.C. Rhodes, Rhodes, Greece. Hipparchus is accredited as the inventor of trigonometry because of his discovery of the first table of chords and also because he's the only person with valid data of the discovery and usage of trigonometry. In order to calculate the rising and setting of zodiacal signs, Hipparchus brought to light the division of circles into 360 degrees and the calculation of chords by looking at the triangles (spherical triangles or triangles that made up a circle) differently. Hipparchus experimented putting all triangles to be within a circle and with the three points each touching the

Did you know that Pythagorean Theorem was actually created well before our generation’s time period? Yes, it seems that is pretty basic knowledge, but did you know it was actually created in B.C. and instead of A.D.? The brilliant mind to thank for such an achievement is the man who goes by the name Pythagoras. However the Pythagorean Theorem isn’t his only accomplishment, he was so advanced for his time, that he had many achievements. But to the best way to examine these accomplishments is to start at the beginning.

The Greeks made several inventions, most notably in the subject of math, which are still studied today and taught in school. Mathematician Euclid is often credited as the “Father of Geometry” for all his work and studies in this subject, which are compiled in his books called The Elements. He organized known geometrical statements called theorems and logically proved all of them. He proved the theorem of Pythagoras (another Greek mathematician), which stated that the equation (c2 = a2 + b2) is true for every right triangle.

This is because, as much as I appreciate the celestial bodies above me, I cannot stand the idea of not understanding a concept -- and for me, that concept is calculus.

Archimedes produced formulas to find the area of regular shapes by using the shapes he already knew how to calculate (The History of Archimedes). An example of this would be the circle. Archimedes would draw a polygon on the outside of the circle and then a smaller one on the inside and he would solve the area of the polygons. Although he knew this only would only get him a range and that the actual calculation might never be found (The History of Archimedes). He similarly was able to find the calculation of the volume of a sphere. He did this by cutting the sphere into a series of cylinders, (The History of Archimedes) and then adding the volumes of the cylinders. Archimedes noticed that the smaller he cut the cylinders the more accurate. His approximation eventually became an exact calculation. Despite all of Archimedes’ contributions to mathematics, the story he is probably the most well-known for would be his discovery of a method for finding the volume of an object with an irregular shape (The History of Archimedes). Hiero had asked the royal goldsmith to fashion a new royal crown for him. Hiero provided a thing of gold to make it, but once Hiero was given his newly made crown he began to believe that the goldsmith cheated him out of some of his gold a replaced it with silver. He asked Archimedes if he could determine this. So while bathing Archimedes noticed

Hipparchus of Nicaea changed the world of Math and Science for years after his final breath. Hipparchus is considered to be the father of Trigonometry, a branch of math, and to have study the orbit of the Moon and Sun determining their size and distance from Earth. Hipparchus of Nicaea is said to be one of the greatest scientist of all times. Despite his brilliancy barely anything is known about Hipparchus or his works. The information that we have on Hipparchus is second hand accounts from him many students, the work his students produced especially Almagest by Ptolemy, and the only surviving work that is still left today, Τῶν Ἀράτου καὶ Εὐδόξου φαινομένων ἐξήγησις (Commentary on the Phaenomena of Eudoxus and Aratus).

The scale is balanced on the edge. One wrong move and the whole thing falls over. This is how many aspects of my life are balanced., but the best example is school. There are many aspects of school that require balancing and if nothing done everything falls apart. The most difficult this has been for me so far was last year.

The best way to repay your parents is to simply tell them how spectacular of a time you have at prom All they want to see is you had a fun time doing something they made possible. Sometimes, simple appreciation is the single most important thing you can do in return.

Many students ask their mathematics teachers, “Do I really need calculus in my real life?” Unfortunately the answer for most of us is no. Therefore the mathematician and presenter of the video Arthur Benjamin calls for a change in the mathematics curriculums of schools. Though he points out that calculus is an important subject for mathematicians, engineers and scientists, in Arthur’s opinion they should be taught by the end of the freshman year of studies that actually need calculus ?? (do you mean: when they actually need calculus..??).

The discoveries of Greek mathematicians such as Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes, are still used in mathematical teaching today.