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Mathematicians

Often, to completely understand the importance of a mathematical theory, it's essential to know about the person who developed it. This category is where all questions about historically significant mathematicians should be asked.

6,570 Questions

What are some famous discoveries by Pythagoras other than the Pythagorean theorem?

He founded the Pythagorean School and Society, which gained political influence in Croton, Italy, and influenced philosophers and mathematicians for centuries thereafter.

When was Pythagoras born and when did hi die?

born in 570 BC and died in 495 BC (or so its assumed) people just believe that because of all the dates leading to 495 BC.

How can you find the unit rate on a gragh that goes through the origin?

Divide the ordinate (y-coord) of any point on the graph by its abscissa (x-coord).

Why is John Neumann so important to the study of computer science?

Von Neumann was a founding figure in computer science. He and Stanisław Ulam developed simulations on von Neumann's digital computers for hydrodynamic computations. He contributed to the development of the Monte Carlo method, which allowed solutions to complicated problems to be approximated using random numbers.

While consulting for the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania on the EDVAC project, von Neumann wrote an incomplete First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC. The paper, which was widely distributed, described a computer architecture in which the data and the program are both stored in the computer's memory in the same address space. John von Neumann also consulted for the ENIAC project, when ENIAC was being modified to contain a stored program. Since the modified ENIAC was fully functional by 1948 and the EDVAC wasn't delivered to Ballistics Research Laboratory until 1949, one could argue that ENIAC was the first computer to use a stored program. John von Neumann also designed the instruction set for the modified ENIAC, and he should be given credit for this. The stored program version of ENIAC ran 6 times slower, but it was still entirely I/O bound, and programs could be developed and debugged in days rather than weeks, which is one of the advantages of having stored programs. This architecture is to this day the basis of modern computer design, unlike the earliest computers that were 'programmed' by altering the electronic circuitry. The single-memory, stored program architecture is commonly called von Neumann architecture as a result of von Neumann's paper.

Stochastic computing was first introduced in a pioneering paper by von Neumann in 1953. However, the theory could not be implemented until advances in computing of the 1960s.

Von Neumann also created the field of cellular automata without the aid of computers, constructing the first self-replicating automata with pencil and graph paper. The concept of a universal constructor was fleshed out in his posthumous work Theory of Self Reproducing Automata. Von Neumann proved that the most effective way of performing large-scale mining operations such as mining an entire moon or asteroid belt would be by using self-replicating machines, taking advantage of their exponential growth.

Beginning in 1949, Von Neumann's design for a self-reproducing computer program is considered the world's first computer virus, and he is considered to be the theoretical father of computer virology.

Donald Knuth cites von Neumann as the inventor, in 1945, of the merge sort algorithm, in which the first and second halves of an array are each sorted recursively and then merged together.

When was heron born?

he was born on 150B.C.E. in ptolemeic in egypt.

Which book is known as the mathematician's Bible?

Euclid's Elements of Geometry is often referred to as "the mathematician's bible".

How do write 0.123 repeating as a fraction?

The answer depends on what string is repeating.0.123123123... = 123/999

0.123232323... = 122/990

0.123333333... = 1221/9900

The fractions can be simplified, if required.

What is the largest of three consecutive odd integers if the product of the first and third integers is 6 more than three times the second integer?

Let the middle one be n, then:

(n - 2)(n + 2) = 3n + 6

→ n² - 4 = 3n + 6

→ n² - 3n - 10 = 0

→ (n + 2)(n - 5) = 0

→ n = -2 or 5

-2 can be discounted as n is odd

→ n = 5

→ largest of the three odd numbers is 5 + 2 = 7.

When did mathematician thales die and where?

Thales was a greek mathematician and died in 546 BC in then turkey, a few years before Persians took over turkey.

How do you solve the following equation. Mike has a square brownie with sides that are each five inches long. He cuts the brownie half to share with a friend. What is the area of each brownie half?

Start by finding the area of the entire brownie.

Area = Length x Width.

Both Length and Width are '5' in this case.

5 x 5 = 25

The area of the ENTIRE brownie is 25.

You're trying to find the area of each piece, so you divide 25 (the area) by 2 (2 halves of the brownie).

25 divided by 2 = 12.5

Therefore, each brownie half is 12.5

How is dividing a decimal by a whole number similar to dividing a whole number by a whole number?

Division is the same whether you use whole numbers or decimals.

You could make the decimal into a whole number.

Look at an example

35 ÷ 0.25 which can be written as 35/0.25

Next multiply top and bottom by the same number to get rid of the decimal.

This becomes 3500/25 or 3500 ÷ 25, and then you can continue division in the usual way.

Why is Aristotle important?

In most of the ancient world, strong fighters won all the glory. But in Athens, great thinkers and wise men were honored. People listened to them and followed their advice. Even today, people admire the ideas of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Their teachings are at the root of modern philosophy and science.