Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Anna Messina
a. ThefirstgroupofmathematicianswhocomputedwiththeHinduArabic
systemratherthanwithpebblesorbeadsonawire.
9. What civilization developed the oldest known numeration system that resembled a
place-value system and when?
a. TheBabyloniansinabout2500B.C.
The answers to the following questions can be found in section 4.1
10. The Greeks often thought of numbers as having human qualities. The numbers
284 and 220 are considered friendly numbers. Why?
a. Becauseeachnumberwasthesumoftheothernumbersproperfactor.
11. More than 2000 years ago, the ancient Greeks developed a technique for
determining which numbers are prime numbers and which are not. What is this
technique called?
a. SieveofEratosthenes
12. Who proved that there is no largest prime number? When?
a. TheGreekmathematicianEuclid,morethan2000yearsago.
The answers to the following questions can be found in section4.8.
13. Who is credited with introducing the Hindu-Arabic number system into Europe.
a. Fibonacci
The answers to the following questions can be found in section 5.1.
14. In mathematics, what is a google?
a. Itisthenameofaverylargenumber:10100.In1938,EdwardKasner
namedthenumber10100agoogol.
The answers to the following questions can be found in section 5.4.
15. One of the problems in the Rhind Papyrus translates to "Aha, its whole, its
seventh, it makes 19. What does the word Aha represent? Set
up and solve this problem.
a. ThewordAhaisnotanexclamation,itrepresentsthe
unknownquantity.
i. abroken(ruptured)board
22. How did British banks record amount of loans and deposits prior to 1826?
a. Theyusedtallystickstorecordtheamountsofloansanddeposits.The
tallieswereflatpiecesofwood.Theamountwasrecordedasnotches,
differentvaluesrepresentedbydifferentwidths.
23. For most of human history, the practice of charging interest on money borrowed,
or usury, was considered not only immoral, but a crime. Why?
a. Becauseapeasantorfarmercouldliterallybeenslavedifpaymentscould
notbemade.Charginginterestovertimewasconsideredsellingtime.
The answers to the following questions can be found in section 8.3
24. Who said
a. "The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest."
b. "Money makes money and the money that money makes makes
more money."
i. AlbertEinstein
25. DID YOU KNOW, in 1626, Peter Du Minuit traded beads and blanket (valued at
$24) to the Native American inhabitants of Manhattan Island for the island. What
would the investment be worth in 2012 if at that time the $24 had been invested at
6% interest compounded annually?
a. $140,693,888,847
The answers to the following questions can be found in section 9.1.
26. The study of probability originated from the study of games of
chance. Archeologists have found artifacts used in games of chance dating back to
3000 B.C. by what civilization?
a. Egypt