History Condensed To A Year

Time perspectives are often gained by various comparisons to the highly familiar. Landmark events in the eons of the earth's geological record, for example, may be condensed to a geological year. Hence, the Proterozoic period would extend from mid-October to late November, the Mesozoic period would begin somewhere in December, and the appearance of mankind would occur during the last few seconds of December 31st. A similar scale, relating to the varied milestones of the history of mathematics, and thus ranging over years for which written records are extant, yields scattered but meaningful comparisons.

But where does the story of mathematics begin? Though scanty evidence identifies the practice of counting as early as 50,000 years ago and the drawing of crude geometric configurations as far into the past as 25,000 years, the dawn of history is ordinarily pinpointed much later. Much uncertainty and vagueness surround approximations in this vast interval of time. Yet with the passing of time, a greater abundance of records, and the associating of names with events, ambiguity is largely removed and a more precise image appears. Time lines are thus fuzzy in their distant reaches and are covered over by mists of obscurity. Long stretches are likewise barren of significant marks as a consequence of unidentifiable or long forgotten mathematical happenings. Of course, not all happenings are to be associated with precise points on the line of history some must be represented by appropriate intervals.

Table of Contents:

ACROSS THE MILLENNIA

SUBTLETIES OF THE TIME LINE

KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION

YOUR VERSION OF THE TIME LINE

REFERENCES