“The Relevance of Mathematics in Everyday Life, Then and Now”  Sarah Sookram

    Introduction

This blog is based on the topic of “The relevance of Mathematics in everyday life then and now”. The “then” proportion of the blog, consisted of research done on Galileo and his personal life as well as his historical mathematical contributions and the thinking process for which came up with his ideas. As for the “now” aspect of the blog it shows how the theories developed by Galileo and were further expanded upon and, an interview was conducted relating to mathematics and its current real world applications.

 

 

       Brief History

Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de Galilei was born on 15^th February,1564 in Pisa Italy and died on the 8^th January 1642 in Arccetri, Italy. He was involved in a lot of professions, but most importantly, he was a mathematician. He enrolled for a medical degree at the University of Pisa, however he didn’t complete this degree but he did do studies on mathematics for quite a while. He was then appointed a position of mathematics at the University of Padua. In 1583 Galileo made a discovery: that each swing of a pendulum, regardless of width, takes an equal amount of time to swing between the extremes of its arc. This suggested that pendulums could be used to mark small intervals of time. The formula for the period T of a pendulum is T = 2π Square root of √L/g. Galileo was interested in gravity, so he began studying it by dropping weights off buildings to prove that by dropping different weights at the same height they will have the same acceleration. He needed to slow down the speed, so he conducted an experiment where he positioned pieces of board at an 60 degree angle however it was too fast, so he repositioned the boards much lower starting from a 30 degree angle. This angle was the prefect angle to measure ratio of time and distance with, reasonable accuracy. With this information Galileo realized that the ratio of the distance covered increased by a sequence of odd numbers such as 1,3,5,7

Picture of Formula for the Period of a Pendulum :

 

 

 

The Interview :

Question: What is your name?

Answer: “Ms. Rose.”

Question: Where do you work?

Answer: My interviewee said “, I am an accountant at Guardian Group”

Question: How long have worked there?

Answer: My interviewee said “, I have worked at Guardian Group foe 3 years”

Question: What are your qualifications in Mathematics

Answer: My interviewee said “ The only qualification in Mathematics I have is a 2 in CXC”

Question: Was Mathematics a determining factor in your career choice?

Answer: My interviewee said “ Surprisingly Mathematics was not a determining factor in my career choice”

Question: Do you use mathematics in your work place?

Answer: My interviewee said “Yes, I do use Mathematics. I use it to calculate the NSIC factor premium for insurance policies as well as calculating the average income policy a person has.”

Question: How has mathematics affected you in your work place.

Answer: My interviewee said “ It has been neutral as the calculations are very easy once the correct information has been provided.”

Question: How has mathematics affected you in everyday life?

Answer: My interviewee said “ Mathematics has effect me in very positive way because I use mathematics in everything I do like playing fetch with my dog.”

Question: Do you use mathematics everyday when you go out?

Answer: My interviewee said “ Yes, I use Mathematics when I go out. I use it to calculate the price on my bills and when I go shopping.”

Question: What  is your favorite topic in Mathematic?

Answer: My interviewee said “My favorite mathematics topic is stimulus equations and circle theorem.”

Question: Why is that your favorite topic?

Answer: My interviewee said “This is my favorite  topic because I love complex equation that can arise however it becomes fairly easy once proper technique is used and circle theorem because my mathematics teacher made a song out of the different rules.”

 

Discussion :

Galileo’s famous discovery on the mechanics behind the pendulum and its use to mark small intervals of time, is a perfect example of how mathematics that was developed in the past “then” can affect our lives “now” and be relevant in the present as it allowed for the creation of pendulum clock in 1656 by Christiaan Huygens. He used Galileo’s theory for the base of his own creation which influenced the task of time measurement in society. This effect was experienced by our interviewee as she wears a watch to her work place and this is required for her job in respect to time management.  Several years after Galileo had developed his theorems of motion on inclined planes, he adopted the principle of horizontal inertia, this new principle Galileo saw instantaneous velocity and average as increasing steadily with time, meaning that Galileo saw average velocity as proportional to instantaneous velocity. This theoretical evolution was a direct influence of Galileo’s work on projectile motion. This shows how Galileo’ work that he did in the past is relevant in the present currently as projectile motion can be used to describe some of the more common activities that our interviewee performed. An example of this relates to the interviewees daily activities in her leisure time such as playing fetch with her dog, as when the ball is thrown is falls it a parabolic motion and the towards the ground with constant acceleration with relation to time just as described by Galileo.

 

 

Conclusion :

In conclusion this blog shows mathematics and its relevance in everyday life, then and now. The “Then” is represented by a mathematician and his historical mathematical contributions and the “now” aspect is symbolized by the interview conducted, showing how past discoveries made are built upon for future research, eventually impacting our current everyday lives. Mathematics is everywhere, however it goes unnoticed by individuals, form the simple action of throwing a ball, to its use in calculating percentage vat on bills. Galileo even noticed it in nature and said “The Laws of Nature are written in the Language of Mathematics”.

 

 

 

 

References :

 

Peter, Machamer  "Galileo Galilei", 2005  

           ( https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/galileo/ )

 

R, H, Naylor, “Galileo’s Theory of Projectile Motion”  ‎1980        

      ( Galileo's Theory of Projectile Motion on JSTOR )

Albert, Van, Helden, “Galileo”, 2021   

                                                                                                                                                                           ( https://www.britannica.com/biography/Galileo-Galilei ).

 

 Adrian, Johnstone, “Galileo and the Pendulum Clock”   2009

    ( http://www.cs.rhul.ac.uk/~adrian/timekeeping/galileo/ )

 

Joseph, W, Dauben, “The Art of Renaissance Science” 1991

( http://www.mcm.edu/academic/galileo/ars/arshtml/mathofmotion2 )