Text 1. Mathematics

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 344.

Task 2. Match the words with their correct definitions

1) deduction a) a statement or proposition which is regarded as being established, accepted, or self-evidently true.

2) definition b) a judgement or decision reached by reasoning.

3) conjecture c) an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information;

an unproven mathematical or scientific theorem.

4) conclusion e) a statement of the exact meaning of a word, especially in a dictionary.

5) number f) an excellent example for others to follow.

6) patterns g) an arithmetical value, expressed by a word, symbol, or figure, representing a particular quantity and used in counting and making calculations;

a figure or group of figures used to identify someone or something.

7) axiom h) the inference of particular instances by reference to a general law or principle.

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions.

Through the use of abstraction and logical reasoning, mathematics evolved from counting, calculation, measurement, and the systematic study of the shapes and motions of physical objects. Practical mathematics has been a human activity for as far back as written records exist. Mathematical innovations interacting with new scientific discoveries led to a rapid increase in the rate of mathematical discovery that continues to the present day.

There is debate over whether mathematical objects such as numbers and points exist naturally or are human creations. The mathematicians called mathematics «the science that draws necessary conclusions» or stated that «as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality». Mathematics is used throughout the world as an essential tool in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine, and the social sciences. Applied mathematics, the branch of mathematics concerned with application of mathematical knowledge to other fields, inspires and makes use of new mathematical discoveries and sometimes leads to the development of entirely new mathematical disciplines, such as statistics and game theory. Mathematicians also engage in pure mathematics or mathematics for its own sake, without having any application in mind, although practical applications for what began as pure mathematics are often discovered.