Geschichte der Mathematik

WDR, 29.09.2014

Timekeeping motivated the world's oldest mathematical devices. In ancient cultures, the need to predict the phases of the moon made a lunar calendar especially useful for the hunters of antiquity. Anthropologists have discovered bones up to 37,000 years old, with 29 notches cut into them to ...

WDR, 30.09.2014

The Mayans devised an incredibly accurate calendar. Their calculation of the lunar month varies by just 0.0004 of a day from the value accepted by astronomers today. In China, in around 200 BC, the Han Dynasty encouraged scholars to compile a book known as The Nine Chapters, which attempted to ...

WDR, 01.10.2014

Mathematical problems became spectator sports in 16th century, with generous prizes given to the winners. In such a competitive atmosphere, it's not surprising that mathematicians would jealously guard their knowledge - and in some cases, behave very badly. Girolamo Cardano, appeared to solve a ...

WDR, 02.10.2014

May 1831 saw the discovery and loss of a mathematical genius; before Evariste Galois met his death in a duel for the affection of his love, his scribbled down a theory which eventually unlocked the secrets of symmetry. In Russia, Georg Cantor realised that not only did infinity exist, but managed ...