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History of Mathematics Day 1

Total questions: 13

Worksheet time: 4mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

The vigesimal system was not popular among American Indians but was used in Central America and by the Mayans. This system has what number as its base.

a)

5

b)

10

c)

20

d)

60

2.

A lot of what we know about Ancient Egyptian mathematics comes from:

a)

the pyramids

b)

the Rhind Papyrus

c)

the Rosetta Stone

d)

Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles

3.

The Babylonians are known for:

a)

solving a quadratic equation

b)

understanding and using the Pythagorean Theorem

c)

approximating Pi as 3 and one-eighth

d)

all of the above.

4.

Followers of Pythagoras were stunned by the idea of incommensurability. Incommensurability means

a)

the ratio of two non-zero real numbers, a and b, is not rational.

b)

there are infinitely many real numbers.

c)

rational numbers are defined as a over b, where a and b are integers.

d)

none of the above.

5.

Who wrote the book, Elements, which is the foundation for Geometry?

a)

Pythagoras

b)

Alexander the Great

c)

Euclid

d)

Archimedes

6.

One of the first civilizations to use the abacus was:

a)

the Greeks.

b)

the Romans.

c)

the Germans.

d)

the Chinese.

7.

Pascal's triangle, which is used to find the coefficients of the powers of a binomial expansion, was first seen in a work written by:

a)

Pascal.

b)

Hypatia.

c)

Archimedes.

d)

Zhu Shijie.

8.

Al-Khwarizmi wrote a book that gave us:

a)

algebra.

b)

logarithms

c)

calculus

d)

geometry.

9.

Charles Babbage was the first to work on the idea of a computer. His first one was called the Difference Engine and the second one was called the Analytical Engine. The first person to program these machines was:

a)

Charles Babbage

b)

Ada Byron Lovelace

c)

Blaise Pascal

d)

Isaac Newton

10.

Both Newton and Leibniz are credited for the discovery of calculus, but we owe much of the notation that we use today to

a)

Newton

b)

Leibniz

c)

Neither of them.

11.

The Fields Medal is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of Mathematics. It is awarded every 4 years to 2, 3, or 4 mathematicians under the age of 40. The first woman to receive the Fields Medal was Maryam Mirzakhani from Stanford University. What year did she receive this award?

a)

1966

b)

1994

c)

2002

d)

2014

12.

Katherine Johnson, who was one of the female mathematicians featured in the movie Hidden Figures, recently celebrated which birthday?

a)

85th

b)

90th

c)

95th

d)

100th

13.

John Urschel quit his career as an NFL football player to pursue a PhD in Applied Mathematics at MIT. Which NFL team did he play for?

a)

Miami Dolphins

b)

Baltimore Ravens

c)

Green Bay Packers

d)

New England Patriots