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Period: 47,000 BCE to 45,000 BCE
A Bone is Thrown Too Math
Link text The worlds oldest known mathematical tool, the Lebombo Bone, is dated in this time period. This bone is made out of the febula of a Baboon. It is thought that this bone is tracking a lunar cycle, more specifically a woman's cycle due to the 29 marks upon it. If this is true than the first person known to be using maths was a woman. The Lebombo bone and is not to be confused with the more recent Ishango Bone. -
2000 BCE
Abacus, A Merchant's Best Friend
When numbers started getting to big for finger counting and using shells or other small things became inconvenient along came the advent of the Abacus. This is a placeholder counting system that originated many places around the globe independently in many different styles. This known usage of any Abacus was by the Egyptians and Sumerians BCE. They were for the longest time the most convenient way to keep track of long numbers until logarithms were created. Pictured Below A Chinese ABacus -
628
Zero Emerges To Make Previously Impossible Calculations Possible
Zero as a concept was independently developed by the Babylonians, Mayans, and Indians. It wasn't until 458 CE in India that it really became a number instead of just a concept. It took even longer (about 170 years longer) for zero to gain it's own symbol from a man named Brahmagupta. This same man also came up with rules surrounding zero such as how to come to it when adding and subtracting. (Pictured is Brahmagupta's symbol for zero) -
1202
A European Shift
In the year 1302, the book "Liber Abaci" ("Book of Calculation") was published by Leonardo of Pisa a.k.a. Fibonacci. This book promoted the usage of arabic numerals over the roman kind. It was an extremely slow shift to the arabic system (this was during the crusades, so anything arabic was immediately suspicious and evil), but eventually logic won out. -
1299
Arabic Numerals Too Easy To Forge
For a year arabic numerals were banned in the city of Florence. The were banned due to being seen as easier to forge than roman numerals which were still commonly used at the time. [Pictured below a sketch of the Duomo (literally "Cathedral") which was considered the height of architectural genius at the time. -
1489
A Standardization Of Math That Stuck
Math could be called a langauge in its own right that anyone who puts in effort can understand. Thats because modern day math in universal but it wasn't always that way. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries all the symbols we use within math became standardized. The addition sign became the addition sign in 1489, the subtraction 1494. Multiplication in 1631, division later on in 1659, and the less than/greater then symbols in 1631. -
Logarithms Come Into Play
In the year 1614, John Napier published his most important contribution to mathematics "Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio", translated as "A Description of the Wonderful Table of Logarithms". The name Logarithm came from the greek terms "logos" meaning proportions, and "arithmos" meaning number these were quite apt. The main usage of logarithm was an easy way to display quite large numbers and nowadays is the key way to display and calculate things such as earthquake intensity. -
Napier's Bones Are Mighty Useful
In 1617 shortly before his death John Napier, developed what became known as Napier's bones. These were rods typically composed of wood, ivory, or bone. They each would have ten bones, 9 bones to represent 1-9 and a index bone. Each bone would have all of its multiplication on it. For example a '2' bone would have 2,4,6,..18. These bones were extremely popular throughout England and the rest of Europe for a time as most peopl edidn't have the mathematical skills needed for multiplication. -
The Great Calculus Controversy of 1699 Or The He Said, He Said Over Calculus
Calculus is one of the most important styles of math known to man kind it centers around finding properties of functions. In the mid 17th century two different men developed calculus independently of each other, their names were Isaac Newton (started his work in 1666) and Gottfried Liebniz (began 1674). Their was key difference between their notes the main being that Liebniz had better notations in his making it easier to follow. Until their deaths they claimed the other stole their work. -
The Pocket Protector Emerges Into The World
First Patented By Engineer, Hurley Smith. This invention has come become the essential tool for all mathematicians allowing them to keep their writing implements nearby at all time without risk to their wardrobe. This tool kept track of many a pencil, thus allowing math to progress that little bit further in advancement as mathematicains were able to ponder the world's secrets rather than look for yet another writing implement. Pictured: Apollo 11 ground crew after liftoff with their protectors. -
That One Story About How Texas Instruments To This Day Dominates The School Calculator Market
The Texas Instruments institute was first founded in 1951, and by the time 1967 rolled around became creators of the first handheld electronic calculator. These calculators became more and more popular over the years until in 1986 where Connecticut ordered 10,000 calculators from TI. To capitalize from school interest they would send out pamphlets and use teachers to educate their peers on why their product was great. By 1990 when TI created it first graphing calculator they were a school staple
