THE NATURE OF

MATHEMATICS
MATHEMATICS IN OUR
WORLD
 Definition of Mathematics

The study of relationships among numbers,

quantities and shapes.

3
 Branches of Mathematics
✘ Arithmetic
✘ Algebra
✘ Trigonometry
✘ Geometry
✘ Statistics
✘ Calculus
4
 PATTERNS AND
NUMBERS IN
NATURE AND THE
WORLD
 Patterns in Nature

Patterns in nature are

regularities found in
the natural order.

6
Plato, Pythagoras and Empedocles are three of
numerous mathematicians and philosophers
who studied patterns to explain order in nature
which led to the modern understanding of
visible patterns.

7
DISCOVERIES IN THE 19TH
CENTURY

8
Joseph Plateau Soap Film
(Belgian physicist)
examined soap films
leading him to
formulate the concept
of minimal surface.

9
Ernst Haeckel
(German biologist)
painted hundreds of
marine organisms to
emphasize their
symmetry

10
D:Arcy Thompson D’Arcy on Growth
(Scottish biologist) and Form
pioneered growth
patterns in both plants
and animal showing
that simple equations
could explain spiral
growth
11
DISCOVERIES IN THE 20TH
CENTURY

12
Alan Turing (British Turing Pattern
mathematician)
predicted mechanisms
of morphogenesis
which gave rise to
patterns of spots and
stripes

13
Aristid Lindenmayer A fractal is a never-ending
(Hungarian biologist) and pattern. Fractals are infinitely
complex patterns that are
Benoit Mandelbrot
self-similar across different
(French-American scales
mathematician) showed
how the mathematics of
fractals could create plant
growth patterns.

14
Patterns Adopted by W. Gary Smith

✘Scattered ✘Serpentine
✘Fractured ✘Spiral
✘Mosaic ✘Radial
✘Naturalistic drift ✘Dendritic

15
Scattered Fractured

16
Mosaic Naturalistic Drift

17
Serpentine Spiral

18
Radial Dendritic

19
 Numbers in Nature
Number of Legs of an Number of Wings of a
Insect Bird

20
Number of Hooves of Number of Petals of a
a Cow Flower

21
FIBONACCI SEQUENCE

22
 Fibonacci
Name: Leonardo Pisano Bogollo
Born: 1170 at Pisa, Italy
Died: between 1240 and 1250
Known for: Fibonacci Numbers, Fibonacci
Sequence and the spread of Hindu-Arabic
numerals in Europe
23
 What is the Fibonacci Sequence?
• An infinite sequence of natural numbers
where the first value is 0, and the next is 1
and from there, each value is obtained by
adding the previous two.
• It is also know as the “Golden Ratio”

24
 Fibonacci Sequence
0, 1, (0 + 1 = 1), (1 + 1 = 2), (1 + 2 = 3), (2 + 3
= 5), …

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, …

A number which belongs to the Fibonacci

Sequence is called a Fibonacci Number.
25
 If you divide two succeeding Fibonacci
numbers, you will come up with a quotient that
is approximately equal to a particular number
called “phi” (pronounced as “fee”) whose
notation is .
This number, , is called the Golden Ratio.

26
1.618034…

27
 It can be noted that the bigger the Fibonacci
Numbers considered, the closer is the
approximation.

28
 Golden Spiral
• A logarithmic spiral whose growth factor is
the Golden Ratio ().
• It grows wider or farther away from its origin
by a factor of 1.618034…

29
Golden Spiral

30
 PATTERNS AND
REGULARITIES IN
THE WORLD AS
ORGANIZED BY
MATHEMATICS
Natural Phenomena Which Can Be
Explained Mathematically

32
Rainbows Cloud Formation

33
Leopard Spots Tiger Stripes

34
 The world consists of order and symmetry
from which similarity, predictability and
regularity in nature and the world consequently
exists.

35
ORDER

36
Seasonal Cycle

37
Day and Night

38
Sunrise and Sunset

39
SYMMETRY

40
FRACTAL PATTERN

41
SPIRAL PATTERN

42
BILATERAL PATTERN

43
CIRCULAR SPIRAL PATTERN

44
REGULARITIES

45
The patterns and
regularities in the
swinging motion of a
pendulum can be
explained by
mathematics.

46
The regularity in sizes
and distances of the
image of an object in
a mirror can be
explained
mathematically by the
law of reflection.

47
A free-falling object is
an object that is
falling under the sole
influence of gravity.
Its motion obeys the
equation of uniformly
accelerated vertical
motion.
48
For every action,
there is an equal and
opposite reaction.

49
PHENOMENA IN THE
WORLD AS
PREDICTED BY
MATHEMATICS
 Mathematics helps predict the behavior of
nature and phenomena in the world. This is
through the field called “Mathematical
Modeling”.

51
 MATHEMATICAL MODELING
Mathematical modeling is the art of
translating problems from an application area
into tractable mathematical formulations whose
theoretical and numerical analysis provides
insight, answers, and guidance useful for the
originating application.

52
 Mathematical Modeling…
✘ is indispensable in many applications
✘ is successful in many further applications
✘ gives precision and direction for problem
solution
✘ enables a thorough understanding of the
system modeled
53
✘ prepares the way for better design or control
of a system
✘ allows the efficient use of modern computing
capabilities

54
 Researchers observe nature and phenomena
and try to make a mathematical model that
works for their observation and that makes
sense. Basically, they try to generalize, or find a
rule for what they observe. These models can
be used for simulation which helps predict what
will happen.

55
 Models range from simple to complex, from
deterministic to stochastic/probabilistic, from
time-dependent to not, and so on.

As models can be probabilistic, Mathematics

can not always accurately determine phenomena.
But it can give probabilities or benchmarks.

56
Weather Forecasting

57
COVID 19 Forecasts in the Philippines:
Insights for Policy Making

58
 NATURE AND
OCCURENCES IN THE
WORLD AS
CONTROLLED BY
MATHEMATICS FOR
HUMAN ENDS
 The logic of any idea that can be explained
in words can be reinforced mathematically to
reach and persuade a larger audience about its
concurrency with natural phenomena, its
economic applicability and its business
potential.

60
 Mathematics today is a diverse discipline
that deals with data, measurements, and
observations from science; with inference,
deduction, and proof; and with mathematical
models of natural phenomena, of human
behavior, and of social systems.

61
 As a practical matter, mathematics is a
science of pattern and order. Its domain is not
molecules or cells, but numbers, chance, form,
algorithms, and change. As a science of abstract
objects, mathematics relies on logic rather than
on observation as its standard of truth, yet
employs observation, simulation, and even
experimentation as means of discovering truth.

62
Mathematical Model Unlocks the Secrets of
Vision

63
Industrial Automation

64
Krebs Cycle

65
APPLICATIONS OF
MATHEMATICS IN
THE WORLD
 Striking applications of mathematics have
emerged across the entire landscape of natural,
behavioral, and social sciences. All advances in
design, control, and efficiency of modern
airliners depend on sophisticated mathematical
models that simulate performance before
prototypes are built.

67
 From medical technology (CAT scanners) to
economic planning (input/output models of
economic behavior), from genetics (decoding of
DNA) to geology (locating oil reserves),
mathematics has made an indelible imprint on
every part of modern science, even as science
itself has stimulated the growth of many
branches of mathematics.

68
CT Scan or CAT Scan Machine

69
Ratio of GNP to GDP (Philippines)

70
Decoding Organizational DNA

71
Oil Reserve

72
Rise of Machines

73
Electronic Gadgets

74
Airplane

75
Car

76
Thank you for watching