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1900 BCE
The relationship of the Pythagorean theorem is first discovered by Pythagoras
The Pythagorean theorem was first discovered in ancient Babylon and Egypt. Pythagoras discovered that the relationship for a right triangle. The square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. a^2+b^2=c^2 (Pythagorean theorem, n.d.). -
630 BCE
Brahmagupta's work with rules to compute with zero
Before this zero was used as a placeholder. Brahmagupta actually used zero to compute. He also contributed to astronomy. He also contributed finding the cube and cube-root of an integer (12 famous mathematicians and their discoveries, 2020). -
350 BCE
Plato's Theory of Forms
The physical form is just a shadow of a the reality of the Realm of forms (unchanging and abstract concepts). He believed that drawing a picture of a square made it a part of the physical realm even though it may not be a perfect square. The ‘form of the square’ is what makes it part of the physical realm (Wilkerson & Cummings, n.d.). -
220 BCE
Archimedes of Syracuse does first calculations using pi
Archimedes of Syracuse first calculated pi. He learned everything from his father who was an astronomer. He believed numbers were involved in everything in the world. He was the first person to calculate an accurate estimate for pi which he estimated was between 3 1/7 and 3 10/71 (Nour, 2022). -
285
Diophantus developed theories on numbers and solving equations
Diophantus is known as the father of algebra. He inspired many mathematicians including Leonhard Euler and Pierre de Fermat. He did a lot for the discovery of algebra and theories surrounding algebra (12 famous mathematicians and their discoverie, 2020). -
1509
Luca Pacioli publishes plus and minus signs for the first time
Luca Pacioli publishes a book on arithmetic and geometry. It was the first time plus and minus signs were introduced in a book. It also became very popular for the mathematical puzzle that were included (The Story of Mathematics, n.d.). -
The Bernoulli family of Basel in Switzerland dominated the mathematical world.
The Bernoulli family’s brothers were responsible for the further development of infinitesimal calculus that had first been developed by Leibniz. They particularly studied calculus of variations and probability and number theory. The family had two or three generations of amazing mathematicians (The Story of Mathematics, n.d.). -
Newton's Law of Gravity
Langrange is credited with the four-square theorem. He also created the Langrange’s Mean Value Theorem stating, “given a smooth continuous curve there is at least one point on that section at which the derivative of the curve is equal to the average derivative of the section," (Kiersz, 2014). -
The Greek letter pi becomes the symbol for that ratio
This greek letter was first used by Welsh mathematician William Jones. It is believed that the symbol pi was chosen because the first two letter of the Greek word for periphery are pi. This symbol is now used all throughout mathematics and is an important symbol to mathematics (Sokolowski, 2014). -
Euler's Polyhedra Formula
Euler’s formula states, “as long as your polyhedron is somewhat well behaved, if you add the vertices and faces together, and subtract the edges, you will always get 2.” This was one of the first examples of what is called a topological invariant “which is a number shared by a class of shapes that are similar to each other.” This changed the development of topology and was essential to physics (Kiersz, 2014). -
Lagrange's Four-Square and Mean Value Theorem
Langrange is credited with the four-square theorem. He also created the Langrange’s Mean Value Theorem stating, “given a smooth continuous curve there is at least one point on that section at which the derivative of the curve is equal to the average derivative of the section.” (The Story of Mathematics, n.d.). -
George Peacock's work in Symbolicl algebra
George Peacock dedicated his time to understanding the logic of symbolic algebra. He left a huge mark on mathematics. In 1833 he created a comprehensive report on algebra and trigonometry at the British Association for the Advancement of Science’s third meeting (George Peacock, 2022). -
Maxwell's equations describing the relationship between electricity and magnetism
James Clerk Maxwell is known as the father of modern physics and contributed to math, astronomy and engineering. Maxwell’s equations are important to classical electromagnetism and help explain how electromagnetism works day to day (Kiersz, 2014). -
Morwen Thistlethwaite's study of knot theory leads to the Thistlethwaite algorithm
Thistlethwaite created an algorithm for solving a Rubik’s Cube in only 52-moves. This was the least amount of moves that you could use to solve a Rubik’s cube at this time. Thistlethwaite is now a professor at the University of Tennessee (Jaap's puzzle page, n.d.). -
Professor Po-Shen Loh of Carnegie Mellon popularizes new way of approaching quadratic equations
Loh popularized a new way of approaching quadratic equations. It is a fresh description on math that has been around for centuries and will be easier for many students to learn and understand than an equation. This will aide to student understanding and give them a different way to view problems (Loh, P.-S, 2019).