Mathematics in our World

Libeeth B. Guevarra
Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

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 The astronomer Galileo Galilei in his
IL Saggiatore wrote that

”[The universe] is written in the

language of mathematics, and its
characters are triangles, circles, and
other geometric figures.”
Artists who strive and seek to study
nature must first, in Galileo’s view,
fully understand mathematics.

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What is Mathematics?

”Human mind and culture have

developed a formal system of
thought for recognizing, classifying,
and exploiting patterns called
mathematics” (Stewart, p.1)

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 1
The origin of counting
2
Geometric patterns
3
Patterns of movement
4
A tool to quantify, organize and control our
world, control phenomena, and make life easier
for us

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Where is Mathematics?

We see hints or clues of it in nature

In our daily routine
In our work
In people and communities
In events

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What is Mathematics for?

helps unravel the puzzles of nature

helps organize patterns and regularities as well
as irregularities in the world
helps predict the behavior of nature and
phenomena in the world
provides tools for calculations

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 helps control nature and occurrences in the
world for our own ends such as weather and
epidemics
provides new questions to think about
Mathematics has numerous applications in the
world making it indispensable

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What is Mathematics about?

Numbers, symbols, notations

Operations, equations and functions
Proof - a story rather than a sequence of
statements

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How is Mathematics done?

with curiosity
with a penchant for seeking patterns and
generalities
with desire to know the truth
with trial and error
without fear of facing more questions and
problems to solve

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Who uses Mathematics?

mathematicians: pure and applied

scientists: natural and social
EVERYONE but, different people use different
mathematics at different times, for different
purposes, using different tools

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Why is mathematics important to
know?

it puts order in disorder

it helps us to become a better persons
it helps make the world a better place to live

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Fibonacci Sequence (Vila)

This is an infinite sequence of natural numbers where the first

value is 0, the next is 1 and, from there, each amount is
obtained by adding the previous two.

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Fibonacci Spiral (Vila)

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Nautilus Spiral (Vila)

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Golden Spiral (Vila)

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Nautilus Spiral (Vila)

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 work before the introduction of geometry
(people are as tall as the castle)

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 Geometry:painting on a canvass (2D) with a 3D effect

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 Non - Euclidean Geometry: evolution of the designs
of buildings

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 Patterns and designs as trademarks of tribes and
culture

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References

1
Aufmann, R., et al. (2013). Mathematics
Excursions. 3rd
2
Johnson, D., Mowry, T. (2012). Mathematics: A
Practical Odyssey. 7th Ed.

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