All  

Store Banner Desktop

Store Banner Mobile

math

Brotherhood of Pythagoras

Brotherhood of Pythagoras: Beyond Math, Insights into Ancient Wisdom

Anyone who so much as glanced at a math book in high school will know the name, Pythagoras. Most will be familiar with the fact that he was a renowned mathematician from ancient Greece, and many will...
A depiction of the Great Library of Alexandria, a symbol of the intellectual epicenter of the ancient city of Alexandria. Right: Detail of Raphael's (1509–1511) impression of Euclid, teaching students 	Source: Microgen / Adobe Stock

What Made Alexandria the Intellectual Capital of the Ancient World?

The ancient city of Alexandria, nestled on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, held a unique and enduring status as the intellectual capital of its time. Its remarkable legacy as a hub for knowledge...
Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test results for Native American ancestry created a lot of controversy. Source: Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0, MicroOne /Adobe Stock

Senator Warren’s Mishap Proves the Importance of Reliable Genetic Ancestry Tests

In the lead up to the 2020 US presidential election and the party primaries, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren led President Donald Trump by four percentage points in the polls . Warren fared...
The assassination of Julius Caesar by William Holmes Sullivan (1836-1908).	Source: Public Domain

Study Proves Statistical Probability of Violent Death for Roman Emperors

In December 2019 Ancient Origins reported that Dr. Joseph Saleh, an aerospace engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, had published a study in the online journal Nature...
A hooded man contemplates complex math formula. Source: adzicnatasa / Adobe Stock

Imprisoned Murderer Solves Ancient Math Problem

A living genius recently solved an ancient mathematical problem, first tackled by Greek mathematician Euclid over two millennia ago. However, the brain behind the impressive solution is an imprisoned...
Archimedes with his famous inventions

Archimedes: An Ancient Greek Genius Ahead of His Time

Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, scientist, mechanical engineer, and inventor who is considered one of the greatest mathematicians of the ancient world. The father of simple machines, he...
Pythagoras advocating vegetarianism.

Pythagoras: A Life Beyond Math and Science

Pythagoras is perhaps the most famous figure in the group of ancient Greek philosophers known as the Pre-Socratics. This is largely due to the Pythagorean Theorem, a mathematical theorem that is...
Zeno of Elea shows Youths the Doors to Truth and False. Source: Singinglemon / Public Domain.

Zeno’s Paradoxes Verses Reality

Zeno’s Paradoxes refers to a set of ingenious philosophical problems attributed to Zeno of Elea, a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher . These paradoxes were devised in order to defend the teachings of...
Illustration from ‘Margarita philosophica’, 1503, by Gregor Reisch (d. 1525). (Deriv.)

When Did Humans First Learn to Count?

Peter Schumer / The Conversation The history of math is murky, predating any written records. When did humans first grasp the basic concept of a number? What about size and magnitude, or form and...
Ratha Yatra Festival in Puri, India on James Fergusson's painting (Public Domain) and the usual form of the numeral figures used in the Bakhshali manuscript.

Five Ways Ancient India Changed the World – With Math

Christian Yates / The Conversation It should come as no surprise that the first recorded use of the number zero, recently discovered to be made as early as the 3rd or 4th century, happened in India...
The 3700-year-old Babylonian tablet with the ‘Pythagorean theorem.’

3700-year old Babylonian Tablet Confirms Pythagoras Did Not Invent the Theorem Bearing His Name

An unknown Babylonian mathematician beat Pythagoras to the discovery of trigonometry by more than 1000 years, claim experts studying the piece. That Babylonian genius marked down the famous theorem...
A magician or wizard with a hidden face.

Mathematical Genius or Mesmerizing Magician? The Psychomagic of Scotland's Ancient Lost Wizard

"Scotland's First Scientist", "The Lost Genius", "The Scottish Wizard", "The White Wizard", or "The Wizard of the North" are some of the terms used to describe Michael Scot. And although this...
God the Father (represented by an old patriarch with white hair) by Cima da Conegliano, c. 1515

Arguments Why God (Very Probably) Exists

The question of whether a god exists is heating up in the 21st century. According to a Pew survey, the percent of Americans having no religious affiliation reached 23 percent in 2014. Among such “...
Pythagoras: One of the Greatest Minds of His Time

Pythagoras: One of the Greatest Minds of His Time

Pythagoras was one of the greatest minds and philosophers of his time and his unquestionable influence can be felt even today in mathematics. It is believed that he was the first man who referred to...
Children learning math, Yucatan, Mexico

Yucatan Children Learn Math Better Thanks to Ancient Mayan Numeral System

Children of the Mexican Yucatan region are getting much better results in mathematics by learning using the ancient Mayan numeral system. Studies suggest that the results are far exceeding those...
What was the real purpose of the shafts in the Great Pyramid? The Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt.

Star Shaft Pointing - Busted: Debunking the Star Shaft Theory of the Great Pyramid

To the west of Cairo stands the great brooding mass of the Great Pyramid. And within that great edifice there lies four small and almost insignificant shafts, that rise up from the pyramid’s internal...