Arithmetic is literally, the art of counting. The word, in its oldest Greek form, comes from the word 'arithmetike,' which combines the ideas of two words in Greek, arithmos, meaning "number," and techne, referring to an art or skill.
In ancient China, Egypt, Babylon, and early civilizations generally, arithmetic was used for commercial purposes, records of taxation, and astronomy.
The Ancient Egyptians used sums of unit fractions (1/n), supplemented by the fraction 2/3, to express all other fractions. For example, the fraction 2/7 was the sum of the fractions 1/4 and 1/28. Using this system, the Egyptians were able to solve all problems of arithmetic that involved fractions.
The big contribution to the development of arithmetic was made by the ancient Greek mathematicians, in particular Pythagoreans, who tried to define all regularities of the world in terms of numbers.
Legend has it that when listening to the sounds made by a blacksmith striking his anvil, Pythagoras was led to a perception of the relationship between arithmetic ratios and harmonic intervals in music.
Diophantus was an third century Alexandrian Hellenistic mathematician, who was the author of a series of books called Arithmetica, many of which are now lost. He used a special sign for minus, and adopted the letter s for the unknown quantity.
In ancient China, Egypt, Babylon, and early civilizations generally, arithmetic was used for commercial purposes, records of taxation, and astronomy.
The Ancient Egyptians used sums of unit fractions (1/n), supplemented by the fraction 2/3, to express all other fractions. For example, the fraction 2/7 was the sum of the fractions 1/4 and 1/28. Using this system, the Egyptians were able to solve all problems of arithmetic that involved fractions.
The big contribution to the development of arithmetic was made by the ancient Greek mathematicians, in particular Pythagoreans, who tried to define all regularities of the world in terms of numbers.
Legend has it that when listening to the sounds made by a blacksmith striking his anvil, Pythagoras was led to a perception of the relationship between arithmetic ratios and harmonic intervals in music.
Diophantus was an third century Alexandrian Hellenistic mathematician, who was the author of a series of books called Arithmetica, many of which are now lost. He used a special sign for minus, and adopted the letter s for the unknown quantity.
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| Title page of the original 1621 edition of the Latin translation |
It wasn't until about 500AD that some Indian mathematicians suggested the use of the symbol “0” meaning zero or nothing.
During the Dark Ages in Europe, knowledge of arithmetic was preserved in India and later among the Arabs.
During the Dark Ages in Europe, knowledge of arithmetic was preserved in India and later among the Arabs.
With the development of trade and overseas exploration in Europe. Hindu-Arabic numerals replaced Roman numerals, allowing calculations to be made on paper, instead of by the abacus.
The invention of logarithms by Scottish mathematician John Napier in 1614 and of the slide rule ten years later helped make the manipulation of the arithmetic processes easier.
The step reckoner was a digital mechanical calculator invented by the German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz around 1672 and completed in 1694. It was the first calculator that could perform all four arithmetic operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Although an excellent mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton was incapable of performing simple mental arithmetic.
A number is divisible by 3 if the sum of the digits is divisible by 3. We know the number 627, for instance, is divisible by 3 because 6+2+7=15, which is divisible by 3.
The step reckoner was a digital mechanical calculator invented by the German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz around 1672 and completed in 1694. It was the first calculator that could perform all four arithmetic operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
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| Replica of Leibniz's stepped reckoner in the Deutsches Museum . By User:Kolossos |
Although an excellent mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton was incapable of performing simple mental arithmetic.
A number is divisible by 3 if the sum of the digits is divisible by 3. We know the number 627, for instance, is divisible by 3 because 6+2+7=15, which is divisible by 3.
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