Mathematics, often perceived as a male-dominated field, has been significantly shaped by the contributions of countless brilliant women. These trailblazers have overcome barriers and stereotypes, proving that gender does not define one’s ability in math. Highlighting their achievements is not just about recognizing their work; it’s also about inspiring the …
Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician who studied math and theories back in the 11th century. He was one of the first Europeans to write about algebra. His most important book, Liber abaci promoted the use of Hindu-Arabic numerals in Europe. Fibonacci is probably best known for his famous sequence. The …
Eratosthenes and His Sieve Prime Numbers and “The Sieve of Eratosthenes” Over two thousand years ago a Greek mathematician named Eratosthenes invented an ingenious technique that helps to find all the prime numbers between one and two hundred. It is a very interesting procedure called “The Sieve of Eratosthenes”. Of …
The Hindu Multiplication or Lattice multiplication is an algorithm that was first founded in the 10th century in India. This method was later adopted and introduced in Europe by Leonardo Fibonacci in his Liber Abaci. The method is also called Lattice Multiplication because it requires a rectangular lattice with diagonals drawn through the cells. Each cell …
The Russian multiplication method is an interesting way of multiplying numbers by doubling and halving. Also called the Russian peasant multiplication, this algorithm allows students to multiply any two whole numbers. As I mentioned in the post about Ancient Egyptian Multiplication, teaching students alternative methods of solving problems helps them …
Teaching students about ancient methods of solving mathematical problems will ignite their interest in math and show them the path that different cultures took to reach to the mathematics we know today. Imagine the students ‘ reaction when you tell them that clever Ancient Egyptians only had to learn the …
Pythagoras of Samos Pythagoras of Samos was a Greek mathematician and philosopher (c. 570 – c. 495 BC). He is known best for the proof of the important Pythagorean theorem, which is about right triangles. He taught a group of mathematicians, called the Pythagoreans, who worshiped numbers and lived like monks. Pythagoras was a great influence on Plato. Pythagoras was born in Samos, a …
