What new ideas about mathematics did you learn?

In the Chapter 3 (What Mathematics is about) of Nature’s Numbers by Ian Stewart he

started with numbers however before there were symbols or the numbers according to him it began
with counting. Wherein we learned that counting is the starting point of math that have undergone
and has developed as human civilization did. From counting using fingers to scratching on clay
disks or wood until the use of numbers or special was developed about five thousand years ago.
Later on, the uncountable but very useful kind of number was invented, the fractions that is mostly
used on commercial transactions.

We also learned that the number systems we have today was not invented together at the
same time, like the invention of the symbol for nothing or the zero at between 400 and 12 00 AD.
The thought representation of debt which is the negative numbers. Afterwards, the real numbers
or the decimals was made by the human mind that enlarged and complexified the number system.
So the five number systems that we have today namely the: natural numbers, integers, rational,
real numbers and the complex numbers were from different civilizations and eras of man and that
like other fields of study mathematics did not just came out of the blue.

However, it did not end on the number systems, the operations and functions or the
processes where numbers are used were invented. The new idea we learned here is the
“thingification of process” or reification where Stewart emphasized that these processes not real
things. He called this the greatest armory of a mathematician that is defined as to regard an abstract
thing as a real or a concrete one. But these processes are no less than the things they are applied to
which has a great impact on our lives. This thingification process in our opinion is one of the many
that makes mathematics complex yet very practicable in real life.

Lastly, according to Ian Stewart, “proofs knit the fabric of mathematics together, and if a
single thread is weak, the entire fabric is may unravel” which proves that like scientists,
mathematicians also undergo many trial and error where proof and interconnectedness is the very
essence of solving and proving if something is true or not and very crucial in solving and
discovering its mysteries.
What is it about that have changed your thoughts about it?

Mathematics for real is a complicated field of study but there are many misconception
about this field that were debunked when we read this chapter of Ian Stewart’s book like: its
invention, the perfect mathematicians and the importance of the word proof.

We always thought that mathematics as a whole were all invented at the same time but
through reading this chapter as mentioned above it developed as generations and eras pass by. Like
from counting using fingers to the invention of the five number systems we have today.

We always regarded mathematicians to be perfect but this chapter proved to us that even
mathematician make errors too and that their lives are full of frustrations which the author
indirectly pointed out.

Although in our math teachers in high school always tell us the importance of our solutions
in the problems we are solving to prove our answers but we never thought that in the making of
this formulas and such proof is also important. Maybe this was because of our hatred on math that
we always think that the inventors of the formulas we are using invented it just to make our
academic lives more difficult that we never considered that to prove the usefulness of the formula
they are making there should be a strong proofs in the making of such and also because this
determines if it is fact or not. This proves that proof is the very essence of solving and proving if
something is true or not. Although mathematically speaking proof needs to be very convincing and
everything used should be well explained because an error will invalidate the solution.

This chapter proves that math is an inevitable part of anything we look at and almost or
maybe all of the advances we are experiencing right now are thing we owe to math and to the
mathematicians Another is that the relationship of facts and proofs that not just occur in real life
to prove that a person is guilty or not but is the most crucial relationship in math. Because of this
our somewhat obtuse realization our perception and appreciation level of this subject significantly
went up.
 What is it most useful about mathematics for humankind?

Mathematics is an underrated and obviously hated field of study but it is where we owe the
most basic thing we use and enjoy right now and most probably what we will enjoy in the near
future. As Ian Stewart mentioned in his book, “like reading and writing, its absence is a major
handicap”. Which we totally agree on because the most useful about math is numbers. Why?

We use numbers in our daily lives it is a universal language that is used in telling time and
date, in school, work, and in measuring. It is also used in calling or just by using your phone when
you enter your pin, counting money, riding an elevator or paying your fare or buying groceries. It
also has application in every professions like when teacher teaches math, engineers using it for
calculating the measurements of what they are building, doctors also use it for blood counts,
glucose count. Numbers are also there in every games we play, in the scores durng soccer,
basketball, volleyball tournaments, in card games and many more. Not just that, according to
Shekina W. (2003), by learning or knowing numbers the logical skills of children, their ability to
solve problems on their own and their thinking skills will improve. Numbers is like an organizer
of our lives and because it is a universal language it helps in making our lives easier and helps us
to plan ahead.

Therefore, our world without number will be disarray and maybe without it is like how
people were before a government was established or the “state of nature” where life is “solitary,
poor, nasty, brutish and short” as Thomas Hobbes described in his book Leviathan.