22 Comments on Was Math invented or discovered?

1. 

   souvik

   February 19, 2013 at 4:31 pm (11 years ago)

   Math was discovered!! I think that someone needed to problem solve something and they invented numbers and symbols to go with it. Plus I think if it was invented there would be designs to go with it. This was a chance incident and many discoveries are chance incidents. So that’s why I think math was discovered.

2. 

   souvik

   February 19, 2013 at 4:31 pm (11 years ago)

   Math was discovered!!I think that someone needed to problem solve something and they invented numbers and symbols to go with it. Plus I think if it was invented there would be designs to go with it. This was a chance incident and many discoveries are chance incidents. So that’s why I think math was discovered.

3. 

   batman26618

   February 19, 2013 at 5:29 pm (11 years ago)

   Math is is all around us like in places where we go all the time. Math is in our houses,on your electronic, and more stuff included in your everyday lives. I think math is playing ps3 because when you play level you are on. So that include numbers. Math isn’t worksheets its more then that.

4. 

   Amrita

   February 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm (11 years ago)

   Math was both discovered and invented. People such as the Chinese, Babylonians, Egyptians,Mayanas,and Romans found math a long time ago. The Ishango bones are 25,000 years old, they can be possibly used for tallying. The Chinese invented the decimals (0.5) counting numbers in order ( 1,2,3,4 ), The Babylonians were thought to have discovered different types of triangles. The Egyptians used symbols and pictures to represent numbers. The Mayans used dots for single numbers and vertical lines for a count of 5. The Romans used numbers and thought to both add and subtract. These are all early discoveries of math. Over the years mathematicions used these discoveries to further invent math. Some exmaples are… the calculator, the venn diagrams which are used for showing what are is the same about the two figures or what is different.

5. 

   ankit

   February 19, 2013 at 7:35 pm (11 years ago)

   For years people have debated whether math was invented or if it was discovered. Mathematics describes the real world of numbers. Was mathematics invented by humans, like cars, computers, T.V, Light bulb and airplanes? No one has the actual answer, but in my opinion, math was discovered. However math was modified later on by different mathematicians and became more advanced. I think this because math is all around us, like when we we make new “rules of a game”. After we have done this, we
   discover all kinds of consequences that follow from these rules. Another example is different types of shapes around us for example a ball is a sphere, this type of math is called geometry. Math has changed over all these years, now to calculate something you can easily grab a calculator and get the answer. For all these reasons I think math was discovered and then modified later on.

   – Ankit

6. 

   myahussain

   February 19, 2013 at 7:58 pm (11 years ago)

   It is both because to discover something it is so pose to be there who put it there is the creator who invented it. So for it to be discovered it has to be invented first. For example in the holly book we knew there is twelve months in a year and we know there are 30 days in a month and seven days in a week so we know that numbers exist. for example Steve Jobs had to invent the i pad for anyone to discover any thing on it no one could say oh look at this app (short for applications)you have to have some thing invented to discover it so is math discovered or invented it is both. Example I want to invent a new subject it is called ouit in this subject you learn how to make __(blank)_____ to fill in this blank I have to invent something and once I do that then I can discover this subject called ouit. Same thing with math you need to invent it to discover it. Or you know it doesn’t have to be about a subject for example a new sponge to discover the sponge you have to invent it how are you going to discover something that isn’t there isn’t invented it makes no sense oh hi I am doing commercial of this new toy (him point at the air there nothing there the whole audience shocked in silence)……

7. 

   kindreebrady

   February 19, 2013 at 8:51 pm (11 years ago)

   I think that Mathematics was invented because people in every different civilization had their own symbols for numbers. For instance in one of the clips there were four bones lined up like tally marks. They may have used tally marks as their symbols. People have invented different numbers and different reasons to use numbers. In every society mathematics is everywhere.

8. 

   anika

   February 19, 2013 at 11:33 pm (11 years ago)

   Was math discovered or invented? My opinoion is that math was invented because Chinese, Babylonians, Egyptians,Mayans,and Romans found math by using hieroglyphics,Roman writing and chinese to invent a way so we can count,add,subtract,divide,multiply,do frations and many more math strands.For exsample, math wasn’t always there it had to be invented by someone. As we saw in the picture, the Ishango bones might have been used for counting or for sorting.Over the years,math has been changed and revised and has been passed down from generation to generation. In conclusion,I think math was invented.

   – Anika

9. 

   kaileyfrost

   February 20, 2013 at 4:11 pm (11 years ago)

   I think math was discovered and invented.The reason I think that is because someone may have found out about math and then improved it and made it better and way more useful in many many ways.We use math when we tell time,bake,on our calenders,even when we play video games or games… there are many other things we use math for and we don’t really reconize the value of math.

10. 

    jenniferfan

    February 20, 2013 at 4:29 pm (11 years ago)

    Math was invented. A long time ago, even now, every country used smybols, words in their own lauguage or objects to represent numbers. The bones were maybe for showing the numbers of stuff or maybe it was like tallys marks. The Chinese made rods to represent numbers. The Mayans used symbols,so did the Babylonians and much more. What I’m trying to say is that a long time ago people knew what math was but they wrote or drew something that some of us don’t know what it is. So math was invented.

11. 

    Kyla

    February 20, 2013 at 4:51 pm (11 years ago)

    Math was discovered. I think that mathematics was discovered by people who needed to solve problems, and made up numbers to go with it. Mathematics was also invented. To be discovered it had to be invented so people could do it. If someone didn’t invent it we wouldn’t have mathematics. So it was a little bit of both.

12. 

    hafsa

    February 20, 2013 at 5:44 pm (11 years ago)

    I think maths was discoverd first then different civilization change it according to their daily needs.People like chinies, egyptains and babylonians found maths long long time ago.Then chinies invented decimal,egyptains used symbols and pictures to represent numbers and babylonians invented diffrent type of triangle.Early maths was very diffrent from todays maths.They did not have the calculators to add somthing, they must have some other ways to calculate .for instanse we have 10 fingers in hands so initially people used to count on them and later on they find other ways to count so maths is always there in universe like many other things.We can see maths everywhere around us like in our home, grocery stores,computers games etc.In human body their is a maths too. like we have 1 nose,2 ears ,2 hands and 10 fingers so maths was there since always and people discoverd it and then invented later.

13. 

    Om

    February 20, 2013 at 5:46 pm (11 years ago)

    math was invented . it was invented because someone probably needed to add numbers to figure out the total of his taxes and then he made the plus symbol and the minus symbol and the equal symbol and the division and the multiplication symbol. some people used bones and those bones look like tally marks and that’s probably how they made tally marks. these symbols +,=,x,- are a persons symbols and everybody probably liked the symbols that he/she made and that’s why i think math was invented.

14. 

    Aleem

    February 20, 2013 at 6:30 pm (11 years ago)

    For centuries math was question if discover or simply invented. Math was used in the early days of man until today. I think math was discovered. I think math was discovered because in the 18 and 19 hundreds people use to do math on bone and paper. Math is everywhere math is in your home and in everyday life such as games, money in your bank account, XBOX has numbers, lotteries. Great mathematician Neton used math to invent light waves, Einstein used math to study the universe, Turing used math for skills in world war 2 and Hawkin used math to study how the world works. I think math was always there but just had to be discovered.

15. 

    yashvi

    February 20, 2013 at 6:51 pm (11 years ago)

    was math invented or discovered? well i think it is both.A long time ago someone could have discoverd math but they would only have the’border’ of math not the details.the details were invented the numbers ,symbols and many other things.math hs changed in years different civilitions chaged math in many ways. the nuber systems have changed from 60 to 10 math has changed and by changing math it has become better and easier to do.Math has been invented more than discovered in my opinon.

16. 

    trad

    February 20, 2013 at 8:03 pm (11 years ago)

    for a long time lots of people have been guessing if math was discovered or invented and iv been thinking about that too and i think that it was invented because i think that a long long time ago somebody was working on something and thats when he or she invented math but now i dont know if somebody discovered it or some body made it like cars tvs ext.

17. 

    tasmiah

    February 20, 2013 at 8:54 pm (11 years ago)

    Math was discovered!For centuries people have debated whether – like scientific truths – mathematics is discoverable, or if it is simply invented by the minds of our great mathematicians. But two questions are raised, one for each side of the coin. For those who believe these mathematical truths are purely discoverable, where, exactly, are you looking?? And for those on the other side of the court, why cannot a mathematician simply announce to the world that he has invented 2 + 2 to equal 5.

18. 

    viduni

    February 20, 2013 at 9:21 pm (11 years ago)

    It is both invented and discovered because for anything to be discover first it has to be invented. I think that the Chinese, Babylonians, Egyptians, Mayanas, and Romans were the one first to invented math. Maybe they used those bones as tally marks and they used the ground as the chart. The Mayans number system is kind of like the Romans number systems that we sometimes use today. They both use dots and lines to reprecent the numbers. The Egyptians use pictures and /or symbols. Though out these years we can see how math is developing. Let’s say that you are going to invent a new sport called IceBall for me to know how to play IceBall I have discover it first.

19. 

    farahhabibi

    February 21, 2013 at 8:30 am (11 years ago)

    Ithink that math was both discovered and invented. For some centries people have been debated that weather like scientific truths,mathematics is discoverable,or if it is invented by the minds of our great mathematicians.So for it to be discovered it has to be invented.I think that the Chinese,Babylonians,Mayanas, and Romans were the one fist to invent math.Maybe because they use numbers differently.Like they used bones to tally mark or ground as chart. But I think that math was both invented or discovered. – Farah

20. 

    anannya123

    February 21, 2013 at 9:57 am (11 years ago)

    I think math is invented. Because man did not “find” math. mankind invent it.

21. 

    bavita

    February 23, 2013 at 12:13 pm (11 years ago)

    I think that math was both discovered and invented.People such as the Chinese, Babylonians, Egyptians,Mayanas,and Romans found math a long time ago.For some centries people have been debated that weather like scientific truths,mathematics is discoverable,or if it is invented by the minds of our great mathematicians. A long time ago, even now, every country used smybols, words in their own lauguage or objects to represent numbers.The Chinese invented the decimals (0.5) counting numbers in order ( 1,2,3,4 ), The Babylonians were thought to have discovered different types of triangles. The Egyptians used symbols and pictures to represent numbers. The Mayans used dots for single numbers and vertical lines for a count of 5. The Romans used numbers and thought to both add and subtract. As we saw in the picture, the Ishango bones might have been used for counting or for sorting.Math is every where but you just don’t noticed it.

22. 

    chrismyrox

    February 26, 2013 at 6:49 am (11 years ago)

    Math could have been discovered or math could have been invented. But I personally think math was discovered. I can picture many people in different countries stumbling on their system in math that their country is now using. People could have been playing with sticks and they came upon the Uganda system from the video. People in Egypt may have been drawing random stuff on a rock and they thought it made sense so they decided that the drawings they made could be useful for calculating. Or the Babylonians drew triangles on clay and thought that is useful to.