Math&Léo
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, theories, and theorems that are developed and proved either in response to the needs of empirical sciences or the needs of mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include number theory (the study of numbers), algebra (the study of formulas and related structures), geometry (the study of shapes and spaces that contain them), analysis (the study of continuous changes), and set theory (presently used as a foundation for all mathematics).
Mathematics involves the description and manipulation of abstract objects that are either abstractions from nature or purely abstract entities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. Mathematics uses pure reason to prove the properties of objects through proofs, which consist of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results, called theorems, include previously proved theorems, axioms, and—in case of abstraction from nature—some basic properties that are considered true starting points of the theory under consideration.
Mathematics is essential in the natural sciences, engineering, medicine, finance, computer science, and the social sciences. Although mathematics is extensively used for modeling phenomena, the fundamental truths of mathematics are independent of any scientific experimentation. Some areas of mathematics, such as game theory, are developed in close correlation with their applications and are often grouped under applied mathematics. Other areas are developed independently from any application but often later find practical applications.
Historically, the concept of a proof and its associated mathematical rigour first appeared in Greek mathematics, most notably in Euclid's Elements. Since its beginning, mathematics was primarily divided into geometry and arithmetic until the 16th and 17th centuries, when algebra and infinitesimal calculus evolved into new fields. Since then, the interaction between mathematical innovations and scientific discoveries has led to a correlated increase in the development of both. At the end of the 19th century, the foundational crisis of mathematics led to the systematic use of the axiomatic method, which heralded a dramatic increase in the number of mathematical areas and their fields of application. The contemporary Mathematics Subject Classification lists more than sixty first-level areas of mathematics.
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