A Brief History of Mathematics and Physics An

A Brief History of Mathematics and Physics: An Intertwined Fate { By: Christopher Coffman 10/10/2012

Mathematic as we understand it was invented by the Babylonians, which was a base 60 set not 10. However, it was the Greeks who invented the formal methods of proofs and logic to test concepts. It was also a Greek, Aristotle, who developed the process of observing natural phenomenon in order discover the natural laws governing them. The Invention of Math and Science

Nicholas Copernicus publishes the heliocentric theory (1543). Galileo Galilei –insisted that motion has universally consistent characteristics which could be described mathematically. Rene Descartes invents analytic geometry, allowing the orbits of Kelper’s equations to be plotted in Cartesian Coordinates. Significant discoveries pre-Newton

Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz invented calculus separately. With this and the body of work done by those before him he composed the three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation. The Father of Calculus and Classical Dynamics

With the invention of calculus several advances were made in the field of mechanics. Applied Mathematicians such Leonard Euler, Joseph Fourier, Carl Gauss, and Joseph Lagrange revolutionized math. Creating many of the tools used today to compute problems in mechanics, electromagnetics, and thermodynamics. Bernoulli was coined the first mathematical physicist for his calculations concerning the behavior of gases. Creation of Applied Math

One of the many consequences of theoretical work done by Gauss and others was Maxell’s paper on Electromagnetism (1873). Ludwig Boltzmann develops Statistical Physics to explain the properties for gases. Consequences of Applied Mathematics

At the turn of the 20 th century mathematics and physics had come to more or less a stand still. However, Einstein's theories in relativity proved that there were fundamental mistakes with using Newton’s methods. This lead to a whole new field called Quantum Mechanics, which was developed by the likes of Heisenberg, Pauli, Dirac, and Schrödinger. Throwing a Wrench in the Works: Einstein’s Theories

And while Quantum Mechanics was quite a leap for explaining phenomenon the Mathematics involved is quite similar to what was being used before Einstein’s theories. The new problems in math actually arose from the creation of the computer, focus on discrete concepts and expansions of combinatorics. Today our ability to compute is not hindered by the math at our disposal, but rather our computing power. The Wrench is Still Stuck!

The Present State of Physics and Math

http: //www. math. wichita. edu/~richardson/tim eline. html

"Timeline of Math. " n. d. Wichita. edu. 10 October 2012 <http: //www. math. wichita. edu/~richardson/timeline. html>. Wikipedia. "History of Mathematics. " n. d. Wikipedia. 9 October 2012 <http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_mathemati cs>. —. "History of Physics. " n. d. Wikipedia. 9 October 2012 <http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_physics>. —. "Time of Math. " n. d. Wikipedia. 10 October 2012 <http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Timeline_of_mathema tics#17 th_century>. References

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