-
700 BCE
Irrational Numbers
Indian mathematician Manava publishes his idea that square roots of numbers such as 2 and 61 cannot be determined. -
450 BCE
Irrational Numbers
The discovery of irrational numbers is often attributed to Hipassus, but there is a lot of controversy around this. More information can be found in this document
https://docs.google.com/a/mix.wvu.edu/document/d/194zTEtSSQSB3wp1Qc3gKjMhZFYT0HDQOt4YU7362vvc/edit?usp=sharing -
175 BCE
Secrets of Alchemists
An edict was issued in China threatening any alchemists making counterfeit gold with death. -
31 BCE
Secrets of Alchemists
The Egyptians began the science of alchemy during Hellenistic Egypt, with Zosimos of Panopolis writing the first known books on the subject. -
628
Paradoxes in Division
Brahmagupta states that zero divided by zero is zero. More information can be found in this document
https://docs.google.com/a/mix.wvu.edu/document/d/1FL5hcLW4u0Pgd8UA2-Yxt6vJdjbOssGnuN6CCaQG0g8/edit?usp=sharing More information on the number zero can be found in this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y7gAzTMdMA -
800
Irrational Numbers
Egyptian mathematician Abu Kamil Shuja ibn Aslam was the first to accept irrational numbers as solutions to quadratic equations or as coefficients in an equation. -
830
Paradoxes of Division
Mahavira states in his book Ganita Sara Samgraha that a number will remain unchanged if divided by zero. -
874
Irrational Numbers
Persian mathematician Al-Mahani examined and classified quadratic irrationals and cubic irrationals in his commentaries on Book 10 of The Elements. -
1235
Secrets of Alchemists
Raymond Lully makes progress in the field of alchemy and is rumored to have transmuted metals into gold for King Edward II. More information can be found in this document
https://docs.google.com/a/mix.wvu.edu/document/d/1H2hiCSIe4uBH7ZIiNzRP7jSvQWBVDonNcxa-jk_xuSU/edit?usp=sharing -
1471
Secrets of Alchemists
Sir George Ripley publishes Compound of Alchemy, a significant text in the world of alchemy. -
Wegener and Continental Drift
Abraham Ortelius is the first to propose the idea of continental drift. More information can be found in this document
https://docs.google.com/a/mix.wvu.edu/document/d/137G3ID1-JjjLJjjuvNZqGh5AbSLtDAnNNJUG17Zjl9E/edit?usp=sharing -
Secrets of Alchemists
James I began his rule in England, making it well known that he did not like "magicians" otherwise known as alchemists. Most alchemists went into hiding to avoid persecution. -
Irrational Numbers
Johann Heinrich Lambert proved that pi cannot be a rational number. -
Paradoxes of Division
Leonhard Euler stated that any quantity divided by zero is infinity. -
Wegener and Continental Drift
Frank Bursley Taylor proposed the idea of "continental creep" as an explanation for how the continents go to their current positions. -
Wegener and Continental Drift
Wegener hypothesizes that the continents are slowly drifting around the Earth. -
Wegener and Continental Drift
Eric Hulten uses botanical evidence to support the theory of a land bridge between Alaska and Russia. -
Wegener and Continental Drift
Harry Haymond Hess publishes "The History of Ocean Basins" outlines ideas that will later be known as the Theory of Sea Floor Spreading. -
Paradoxes of Division
A division by zero error in the software for the USS Yorktown caused all of the computers onboard to crash, resulting in failure of the ship's propulsion system. -
Paradoxes in Division
James A.D.W. Anderson invents transreal arithmetic, a system of math in which zero divided by zero is called nullity and any number divided by zero (excluding zero) is negative or positive infinity, depending on if the number being divided is positive of negative.
