Maths+Pages

This page is mostly covering things that I have found interesting as I have started to explore mathematics anew, such a quotes, people and the history of maths. For more specific information on maths for physics, follow the link below:

essex-maths site


 * Galileo Galilei. 1564-1642. Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist.**

"The universe cannot be read until we have learnt the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word."


 * Calculus, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz**

Came up with a different version of calculus to that of Isaac Newton. It is now generally thought that they independently developed these ideas, although Newton was of the opinion that Leibniz was copying his work.

//Source: Marcus du Sautoy Podcasts "a brief history ot mathematics" [|Link to M du Sautoy podcasts on mathematics]//


 * What is calculus:**

The maths of things that change. E.g. a falling apple - how fast is it falling? Well, it is accelerating all the time so its speed is increasing all the time. Speed is distance over time, so the //average// speed over a given time interval is easy. But the speed at a particular //instant//, would have to be the average speed over an infinitesimally small time interval, so you would be dividing by 0, and would have an infinite speed. Calculus provides a way for working out the answers to such problems, i.e. to find a sensible solution where the interval over which you are taking an average approaches zero.