Mathematics has spread its influence far beyond the realm of numbers. The concepts and methods of mathematics are crucially important to all of culture and affect the way countless people in all spheres of life look at the world. Consider these cases:
> When Leonardo da Vinci planned his mural The Last Supper in the 1490s, he employed geometric perspective to create a uniquely striking composition, centered on the head of Jesus.
>When Thomas Jefferson sat down to write the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he composed it on the model of a geometric proof, which is what gives it much of its power as a defense of liberty.
> When Albert Einstein developed his theory of general relativity in the early 20th century, he used non-Euclidean geometry to prove that the path of a ray of light, in the presence of a gravitational field, is not straight but curved.
Intriguing examples like these reflect the important dialogue between mathematics and philosophy that has flourished throughout history. Indeed, mathematics has consistently helped determine the course of Western philosophical thought.
Views about human nature, religion, truth, space and time, and much more have been shaped and honed by the ideas and practices of this vital scientific field.
Source credit: Judith V. Grabiner, Ph.D.
> When Leonardo da Vinci planned his mural The Last Supper in the 1490s, he employed geometric perspective to create a uniquely striking composition, centered on the head of Jesus.
>When Thomas Jefferson sat down to write the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he composed it on the model of a geometric proof, which is what gives it much of its power as a defense of liberty.
> When Albert Einstein developed his theory of general relativity in the early 20th century, he used non-Euclidean geometry to prove that the path of a ray of light, in the presence of a gravitational field, is not straight but curved.
Intriguing examples like these reflect the important dialogue between mathematics and philosophy that has flourished throughout history. Indeed, mathematics has consistently helped determine the course of Western philosophical thought.
Views about human nature, religion, truth, space and time, and much more have been shaped and honed by the ideas and practices of this vital scientific field.
Source credit: Judith V. Grabiner, Ph.D.
