Mathematical Impacts
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Mathematical Impacts
The art of mathematics is an intrinsic part of the many physical sciences which humanity strives to learn; it began as a way to explain the celestial guides, which became the science of astronomy and astrophysics. This essay will explain the use of math in astronomy, chemistry, physics, and their relation.
The study of astronomy is the oldest of the physical sciences it began as an inspiration. For the purpose of this essay, the study will begin with the ancients knowledge of this science. They had many different views on how those nocturnal guides worked. Many of these civilizations studied their arrival and departure along with the weather to understand their own existence. Humboldt (1849) stated, “Physical laws depend upon mean numerical values; which shows us the constant amid change.” This change was the foundation of time, time that would assist in measuring and explaining how those guides work. Boorstin (1985) explains that, “The first grand discovery was time, the landscape of experience.” He went further with his explanation of how important it was for humans to measure time, if it had been simple, humans would have, “lacked the incentive to study the heavens and to become mathematicians.” With the use of this curiosity, humans searched and learned how they worked.
Math had made it possible to understand this aspect of the cosmos, yet there were some differences on how they really worked. The Greeks were the first to “propose explanations for the motions of astronomical objects that relied on logic and geometry” Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit (2004).
Math, helped explain, and defy the beliefs held for many years. The Greeks created a geocentric model, which places the earth in the center of the universe. This was attributed, to Thales (c. 624-546 B.C.), which many other Greeks held to be true even after another Greek named Aristarchus (c. 310-230 B.C.) “Suggested that the Earth goes around the Sun, a view that ultimately prevailed, but until almost 2,000 years later” Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit (2004).
With all of this in mind, the mathematicians who followed these great men of genius will utilize the ideas and mathematical equations in search of the truth. It is important to understand that in order for these new discoveries be found, the evolution of logic, math, and other sciences, which derived from the mathematical ideals of the past. To put it in a better perspective of how these evolutions helped these advancements, it is important to understand that before the discovery of the telescope, calculations and logical premises made the old discoveries. It is said, that the greatest naked-eye observer of all time was Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), which witnessed a supernova and declared it farther away from the moon. In his lifetime, the telescope had not been invented yet, but with this new invention came new discoveries.
History of Chemistry
The earliest practical knowledge of chemistry was metallurgy, pottery, and dyes. These crafts were development with much skill, but with no understanding of the principles involved. The Greek philosophers first formulated the basic concept of elements and compound during the time of 500 to 300 B.C. With variations of opinion, but it was generally believed that four elements, air, fire, water and earth combined formed all things.
Around the beginning of the Christian era in Alexandria, the ancient Egyptian industrial arts and Greek philosophical speculations were joined into a new science. It was said that chemistry or alchemy was to be mingled with occultism and magic. The focus was the transmutation of base metal into gold, the imitation of precious gems, and the search of the elixir life, which the Greeks thought would grant them immortality.
In the 7th century A.D., the Muslims dominated in chemistry. They diffused the remains of the Hellenistic civilization to the Arab world. The first chemical treaties that became well known in Europe were the Latin translators. Their chemistry work was made in Spain 1100 A.D. The development of chemistry grew extensively during the Middle Ages, it cultivated immensely by itinerant scholars who traveled over Europe looking for patrons.
Evolution of Modern Chemistry
Under the direction of Oxford Chemists (Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke, and John Mayow) chemistry began to emerge as distinct from the pseudoscience of alchemy. Boyle (1627-1691) is often called the founder of modern chemistry. He performed experiments under reduced pressure, while using an air pump, and he discovered that volume and pressure are inversely related in gases. Hooke gave the first rational explanation of combustion and Mayow focused his study on animal respiration. As the chemists were moving towards their finding to formulate a correct theory of combustion, they were interjected by another theory. Two Germans by the name J.J. Becher and G.E. Stall introduced the false phlogiston theory of combustion, which claimed that the substance phlogiston is contained in all combustible bodies and escapes when bodies are burned.
During the phlogiston period, the discovery of different gases and the analysis of air as a mixture occurred several chemists. Carbon dioxide, first described by J.B. Van Helmont and rediscovered by Joseph Black in 1754, was originally referred to as fixed air. Hydrogen, first discovered by Boyle and carefully studied by Henry Cavendish, was called inflammable air. Cavendish also proved that the explosion of hydrogen and oxygen produces water. C.W. Scheele found that air is composed of two fluids, which only one supports combustion. In 1771-1173, Scheele was also the first to acquire pure oxygen, but he did not recognize oxygen as an element. Joseph Priestly independently discovered oxygen by heating the red oxide found on mercury with burning glass. He was known to be the last great defender of the phlogiston theory.
At the end of the 19th century the electron and radioactivity was discovered. Transmutation of the, first achieved by Ernest Rutherford, has led to the creation of elements not found in nature that elements weighing more than uranium have been produced. With the fast developments of polymer chemistry (after World War II), a multitude of new synthetic fibers and materials have been added to the market. A better understanding of the relationship between the structure of molecules and their properties has allowed chemists to tailor new materials that meet specific needs.
Mathematics in Chemistry
Chemistry is highly visual and mathematics plays a large role in chemistry. Geometric visualization is one of the highest priorities for chemists. Synthetic