The Gateway Chronicle 2020

68
Abacuses were something of a new invention,
but, when they were used, an empty
space was left to indicate that there was
nothing to add on. So, we ca
n tell that these primitive people did have
an idea of the concept zero, but al-
Khwarizmi was the one who actually gave
it a name. He then took it one step further
and expanded upon the idea of early algebra,
allowing more complex calculations
to be performed, with the aid of his newfound
number. Although al-Khwarizmi
lived less than 40 years, his legacy is still
felt today, testament to the rapid mathematical
discovery that has taken place
since his death, so this development is
naturally credited to him.
Whilst mathematical progress was being
made from al-Khwarizmi’s death onwards,
much of it
was simply expanding
on what
earlier mathematicians
had discovered
and
there were very
few new concepts
produced.
We do not see a
significant discovery again until 1614 (as
between then and Al-Khwarizmi’s death,
the
most that occurred was further development
of algebra, as well as the decimal
system being introduced). This discovery
was made by John Napier of Scotland,
who revolutionised the mathematical
world once again with the concept of Logarithms.
A logarithm (or ‘log) is similar to
an index (for example, a to the power of b
where a and b are both integers), except
that they are used to express numbers of
powers of ten. For example, the number
100 is equal to 10 squared, which means
that the logarithm of 10 here is 2. These
logarithms may be developed into logarithmic
tables, which are particularly useful
for working out things like
trigonometric functions, something with
great significance and importance today.
“All the way from the development of
zero, right up to the pioneering Chaos
theory, we know that maths is the
driving force behind the world”
The final stop on our mathematical tour is
in the early 19 th and 20th centuries, when
we experience a boom of new ideas, after
a somewhat stagnant period of mere expansions
of existing knowledge. Kickstarted
somewhat by the Industrial Revolution,
where new ideas were widespread
thanks to the necessity of moving industrial
materials. Where one thing moves,
ideas usually move with it. In 1830, we see
the development of non-Euclidian geometry;
then, during the mid-20 th century, we
see the pioneer, Benoit Mandlebrot develop
fractal geometry. But the pinnacle of
this boom was without doubt Chaos Theory.
Chaos theory states that where we see
great randomness, such as in weather systems,
there is actually
great underlying
complexity
and selforganization.
Such is true for
weather systems,
although Chaos
theory was not
applied to
weather systems until the 21 st Century.
This is such an incredible concept because
it proves that maths is omnipotent. If you
look out of the window and a gale is
blowing, rain whipping the windows,
there is order in the black heart of the
storm. There is method in the madness.
Maths really is everywhere; in everything
we see and in everything we do. It is incredible
to think that this all came from a
wolf’s femur found buried in the Czech
Republic from 10 000 years ago! All the
way from the development of zero, right
up to the pioneering of Chaos theory, we
know that maths is the driving force behind
the world. It’s in this paper. It’s in
this page. It’s even in you.
Ben, 4.2