WHICH WAS FIRST ALGEBRA OR GEOMETRY AND WHERE DID THE NAMES COME FROM?

Question

WHICH WAS FIRST ALGEBRA OR GEOMETRY AND WHERE DID THE NAMES COME FROM?

Answer 1

algebra came first

Answer 2

Alegebra:

"The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians used algebra. Evidence for its development appears in an Egyptian book that was copied by the scribe Ahmes about 1650 B.C. The Babylonians used more advanced algebra than did the Egyptians. Hundreds of years later, the Greeks, Chinese, and people of India contributed to the development of algebra. Diophantus, a mathematician who lived in the A.D. 200's, used quadratic equations and symbols for unknown quantities. Diophantus, who was probably Greek, has been called "the father of algebra."

The Arabs made many contributions to the study of algebra. They adopted the number system of India, including the zero, and developed fractions much as they are used today. They helped transmit earlier mathematical ideas to the West. Between 813 and 833, al-Khwarizmi, a teacher in the mathematical school in Baghdad, wrote an influential book on algebra that was used as a textbook. The English word algebra comes from an Arabic word meaning restoration or completion in the title of this work. The Persian astronomer and poet Omar Khayyam (c. 1048-1131) wrote a book on algebra."

Geometry

History

Historians do not know the exact origins of geometry. However, records of the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians indicate that they knew of some geometric principles as long as 5,000 years ago. The Egyptians developed geometric ideas that could be used to reestablish land boundaries after the annual flooding of the Nile River. They also used geometry to build the pyramids.

Like the Egyptians, the Babylonians focused on the practical uses of geometry, such as the methods of measurement needed for building and surveying. The Babylonians also studied ideas later expressed in certain geometric theorems, including the Pythagorean theorem, which relates the length of the sides of a right triangle (see Pythagorean theorem).

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Greek geometry. Two Greek philosophers who lived during the 500's B.C.—Thales and Pythagoras—influenced the development of geometry. Historians credit Thales with creating the first deductive proof of a theorem. Pythagoras, often called the father of mathematics, founded a school in which math was studied extensively. He formulated the Pythagorean theorem.

In the 300's B.C., the Greeks became the first people to study mathematics from a theoretical point of view, and not simply for its practical applications. This change in emphasis came largely from the influence of the philosopher Plato and the students at his Academy. Plato insisted on the use of deductive reasoning in proving geometric theorems. He argued that because the senses can be fooled, a person should use reason, instead of physical diagrams, to prove geometric theorems. Also during the 300's B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle clearly laid out the foundations for an axiomatic system and deductive reasoning.

The ancient Greek mathematician most often associated with geometry is Euclid. Euclid proved many new theorems, but his greatest contribution to geometry was in organizing geometric ideas that already existed. About 300 B.C., he provided in his Elements the classic example of an axiomatic system by defining terms, listing axioms, and then using the axioms to prove hundreds of theorems. During the 200's B.C., the Greek mathematician Archimedes discovered methods for finding the area and volume of conic figures.

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René Descartes

Beginnings of modern geometry. Historians trace the beginning of modern geometry to the 1600's. At that time, greater communication arose among mathematicians than there had been since the time of Plato. Two Frenchmen, Rene Descartes and Pierre de Fermat, began working on what later became known as analytic geometry. Descartes spelled out the foundations of analytic geometry in his book Geometrie (1637). Fermat's approach to geometry more closely resembles modern analytic geometry than Descartes’s approach does. However, because Fermat did not publish any of his work, most scholars credit Descartes with the discovery of analytic geometry.

Answer 3

Geometry is a Greek concept.

Algebra is an Arabic concept, and came later.