[FRIAM] New Mexican's Sunday's story on education proficiency

[Pieter Steenekamp]

>From tally marks as numbers are real things to modern mathematics

Tally marks were the first way people counted things. They were good for
simple counting and helped people think of better ways to count. As
societies grew and needed to count more things, they needed better methods.
Tally marks were not good for big numbers or doing math, so people made
symbols for numbers.

This change from tally marks to number symbols happened in places like
ancient Sumer, Egypt, and China. These cultures moved from using tally
marks to using better and easier ways to write numbers.

Skipping some important steps, in the 1600s, some crucial things happened
to go from simple tally marks as numbers are real things to the math we use
today.

René Descartes was a French mathematician. In 1637, he introduced the
Cartesian coordinate system. This system helps us connect algebra and
geometry. We use it to plot points on a graph with an x-axis and a y-axis.
It makes it easier to see how numbers and shapes work together.

Isaac Newton from England and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz from Germany were
two other important mathematicians. In the 17th century, both of them
independently developed calculus. Calculus is a branch of math that helps
us understand change and motion. It’s very important for studying things
like physics, engineering, and economics.

These developments were big steps forward in math. The Cartesian coordinate
system made it easier to work with shapes and numbers together. Calculus
helped us study changes and solve complex problems. Together, these ideas
helped make modern math more powerful and useful for many different fields.

All from the humble beginnings of tally marks as numbers are real things.

On Tue, 23 Jul 2024 at 06:02, Frank Wimberly <wimberly3 at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> ---
> Frank C. Wimberly
> 140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
> Santa Fe, NM 87505
>
> 505 670-9918
> Santa Fe, NM
>
> On Mon, Jul 22, 2024, 9:33 PM Nicholas Thompson <thompnickson2 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi   Jon,
>>
>> As a Peircean, I neverdoubted it for a minute.  A true ;roposition is one
>> upon which we will agree in the very long run.  A real thing is any concept
>> about which a true proposition can be uttered.   I think that makes
>> numbers, and right triangles real given that 3^2 + 4^2 = 5^2 and  that the
>> squire upon the hippopotamus is equal to the son of the squires on the
>> other two hides. So they are real even though we will neverever touch one.
>>
>> Weird.
>>
>> Nick
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> on behalf of Jon Zingale <
>> jonzingale at gmail.com>
>> *Sent:* Monday, July 22, 2024 6:22 PM
>> *To:* friam at redfish.com <friam at redfish.com>
>> *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] New Mexican's Sunday's story on education
>> proficiency
>>
>> Numbers are real things. The more one explores them, the more experiences
>> one has of them, the more confidently one comes to rely on them.
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