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Exploring the Foundations of Mathematics

This quiz explores fundamental concepts in mathematics, including number theory, logic, and influential mathematicians.

#Mathematics #Number Theory #Logic #History of Mathematics #Mathematicians

1 As the number system is further developed, the integers are recognized as a subset of the ________ ("fractions").

2 There is beauty in a simple and elegant proof, such as ________'s proof that there are infinitely many prime numbers, and in an elegant numerical method that speeds calculation, such as the fast Fourier transform.

3 [citation needed] Modern logic is divided into recursion theory, model theory, and proof theory, and is closely linked to theoretical ________.

4 Further steps needed writing or some other system for recording numbers such as tallies or the knotted strings called quipu used by the ________ to store numerical data.

5 Trigonometry is the branch of mathematics that deals with relationships between the sides and the angles of triangles and with the trigonometric functions; it combines space and numbers, and encompasses the well-known ________.

6 [citation needed] In his 2002 book ________, Stephen Wolfram argues that computational mathematics deserves to be explored empirically as a scientific field in its own right.

7 [5] ________, on the other hand, stated that "as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."[6]

8 What does the following picture show?  An abacus, a simple calculating tool used since ancient times.   Carl Friedrich Gauss, himself known as the "prince of mathematicians",[27] referred to mathematics as "the Queen of the Sciences".   Pythagoras (c.570-c.495 BC) has commonly been given credit for discovering the Pythagorean theorem. Well-known figures in Greek mathematics also include Euclid, Archimedes, and Thales.   The infinity symbol ∞ in several typefaces.

9 ________ in A Mathematician's Apology expressed the belief that these aesthetic considerations are, in themselves, sufficient to justify the study of pure mathematics.

10 ________ in traditional thought were "self-evident truths", but that conception is problematic.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • ex-professional footballer Julian Hails has a BSc honours degree in mathematical studies and became a mathematics teacher.
  • college mathematics professor David Bressoud chose to major in mathematics because that was the quickest way to complete his degree and get away from college and academia.
  • between studying maths at Cambridge University and becoming a highly cited neuroscientist, Stephen Dunnett was a social worker in the London Borough of Southwark in the mid-1970s.
  • after Edwin E. Moise retired from mathematics research he became a literary critic of 19th-century English poetry.
  • in mathematics, an Apollonian gasket is a fractal generated from three circles, any two of which are tangent to one another.
  • the Calvinist philosopher and New Testament scholar Vern Poythress argues that mathematics is the rhyme of the universe.
  • the world's largest mathematical experiment, designed by Brian Butterworth, found women to be faster than men at subitizing.
  • the first and so far the only mathematics paper by Bill Gates was published in Discrete Mathematics in 1979.
  • the father and daughter, mathematics professor Ralph Tambs-Lyche and women's rights activist Guri Tambs-Lyche, were both members of left-wing organizations, Clarté and the Communist Party respectively.
  • a series-parallel graph is a mathematical model of series and parallel electric circuits with two different nodes called source and sink, indicating the direction of the electrical current flow.
  • Yuktibhasa, written by Indian astronomer Jyeshtadeva, is considered to be the first mathematical treatise on calculus.
  • James W. Patterson, a Senator from New Hampshire, was a professor of mathematics, astronomy, and meteorology.
  • Frank Ryan earned a Ph.D. in mathematics while playing quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.
  • Fischer Black Prize, first awarded in 2003, is the finance analogue to the Clark Medal in economics and the Fields Medal in mathematics, introduced in 1947 and 1936, respectively.
  • Elbert Frank Cox was the first black person in the world to get a Ph.D in mathematics.
  • Max Noether, called "one of the greatest mathematicians of the nineteenth century", learned advanced mathematics mostly through self-study.
  • Nathan Daboll wrote the mathematics textbook most commonly used in American schools during the first half of the 19th century.
  • Ostomachion is a mathematical treatise attributed to Archimedes on a 14-piece tiling puzzle (pictured) similar to tangram.
  • stitch markers (pictured) are mnemonic devices that demonstrate the underlying mathematical basis of crochet.
  • Sigve Tjøtta, retired mathematics professor and a member of the Acoustical Society of America, competed in a half marathon at age 75.
  • Italian mathematician Guido Castelnuovo secretly taught geometry to Jewish students during World War II.
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