Aircraft Basic Science, Eighth Edition, 8th Edition

Fundamentals of Mathematics

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INTRODUCTION

The science of mathematics, so important to the modern age of technology, had its beginnings in the dim ages of the past. It is probable that prehistoric people recognized the differences in quantities at an early age and therefore devised methods for keeping track of numbers and quantities. In the earliest efforts at trade it was necessary for the traders to figure quantities. For example, someone might have traded ten sheep for two cows. To do this, the trader had to understand the numbers involved.

As time progressed, the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians developed the use of mathematics to the extent that they could perform marvelous engineering feats. Later the Greeks developed some of the ...