TED-ED - Term 2 Week 5

Is math discovered or invented? - Jeff Dekofsky

Would mathematics exist if people didn't? Did we create mathematical concepts to help us understand the world around us, or is math the native language of the universe itself? Jeff Dekofsky traces some famous arguments in this ancient and hotly debated question.

1. The Fibonacci sequence is perhaps best known from its appearance in the novel and movie "The Da Vinci Code." What are some of the real world applications of this famous sequence?

2. Name at least one mathematical idea or principle that you feel is a universal truth. Support your choice.

3. What special name did the Pythagoreans give to the number 1, the source of all creation?

4. What mathematician believed that "God created the natural numbers ... all else is the work of man"?

5. What famous phrase did Eugene Wigner coin regarding mathematics?

6. What mathematician incorrectly boasted that none of his work would ever serve a useful purpose?

7. What centuries old mathematical theory re-emerged in the 20th century to explain how DNA unravels itself during replication?