On New Year’s Day in 2021, an article on mathematics rushed to the second place on the Zhihu Hot Question List, with over 15 million views and more than 1.3 million readings. The question was: Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered? (数学是人类的发明,还是发现?)
What makes a mathematics question into the hot list that normally only social hotspots can enter? The article neither lists abstract mathematical formulas nor rises to the level of obscure philosophy concepts. Instead, it starts from Raphael’s masterpiece “The School of Athens”, and tells from the perspective of the history of science and technology, where mathematicians used “infinity” as a tool. From there, a whole new world has been created.
The East and West Learning Connections proudly presents Mr Yingfeng Zhang, the author of the article in question, to give us an informative and insightful lecture on topics touched by the article yet have not been discussed in detail, such as:
- Do animals know mathematics?
- How did early civilizations discover mathematics?
- How did ancient Greeks invent infinity?
- Why is our universe finite?
- What other secrets are hidden in Raphael’s painting?
Continue reading “EAWLC Science Lecture: Is Mathematics Invented or Discovered?”