The Relevance of Mathematics in Everyday Life, Then and Now by Ashana Hines

 Introduction

Heron of Alexandria , which also goes by "Hero" (flourished c ad 62, Alexandria Egypt) was an inventor and Greek geometer whose writings preserved for posterity a knowledge of the mathematics and engineering of Babylonia , ancient Egypt , and the Greco-Roman world. His most important work , Metrica , was announced lost until the year 1896.

Brief Biography on Heron of Alexandria

Heron of Alexandria was born 10 AD, Alexandria Egypt at 150 BCE. He was raised in Egypt and was also taught at the Musaeum which is also known as the most famous library of Alexandria. Most of his writings appear as lecture notes for courses in math , mechanics , physics and pneumatics. In the 100 CE , he made his first invention that was known for the Steam Engine. Hero described a method for iteratively computing the square root of a number , however he was most associated with Heron's formula for finding the area of a triangle. He also devised a method for calculating cube roots.

Interview

 A face to face interview was conducted with a painter , Ashill Hines, on February 20th,2021. He has a very good experience with his work. The interview was interrupted when my interviewee had to answer a call but it was still a successful interview. The following questions is what were asked.

1)Hi,good day sir ,what is your name?

Interviewee: My name is Ashill Hines

2)What do you do for a living?

Interviewee: I'm a painter

3)How is mathematics used in your job?

Interviewee: it is used when i have to divide the wall into two or more parts ,outline it with tape in triangle shapes, then paint.

4) What motivates you?

Interviewee: According to my mind, if my mind says go for it i will.

5)What was your greatest achievement?

Interviewee:My greatest achievement is making nice investment.

6)What are your hobbies outside of work?

Interviewee: I'm a land lord for many, but i also like to lime with friends.

7)Do you think mathematics is useful in your job? if yes state why.

Interviewee:Not much, i only find it useful to the shapes and when calculating cash.

Discussion

Heron of Alexandria has done a great access for us in mathematics for the "Now". There are three books , of geometric rules and formulas that he gathered from a variety of sources, some of them were drawn back to ancient times in Babylon , which is based on areas and volumes of planes and solid figures. Book one itemize finding the area of various plane figures and the surface areas on common solids , it also contains an iterative method known by the Babylons for approximating the square root. Book two enumerates methods for computing volumes of various solids , including the five regular "Platonic solids". Book three gives off  the division of various plane and solid figures into parts according to some given ratio. There where other works on geometry ascribed to Heron such as Geometry , Stereometry , Mensuration , Geodesy , Definitions , Liber Geeponicus , which contain problems similar to those in the Metrics , however the first three are certainly not by heron in the present form and the sixth consists largely of extracts from the first. 

Conclusion

My interview has shown how mathematics is linked to everything we do in our lives on a daily basis. It has shown how it can be used in jobs. I'm thankful that someone took the time to let me interview them , hence there is a pandemic occurring. Heron of Alexandria , as you can see , did alot of things that was related to math in the "Then|" that will be useful for the "Now".

References 

en.m.wikipedia.org , www.smith.edu , www.britannica