GK Quiz on the History of Mathematics
22 December is commemorated annually to mark the birth anniversary of legendary Indian Mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan. While the day recognizes and celebrates his works we have made a quiz for you to find out how much you know about the history of mathematics.
Take this quiz and test your knowledge of mathematicians all across the globe!
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National Mathematics Day 2022: Date, History, Significance, Celebrations, Key facts & More
Q1. Who is believed to be the first mathematician?
a) Archimedes
b) Thales of Miletus
c) Leonardo DaVinci
d) David Copperfield
Answer: Thales of Miletus
EXPLANATION:
The Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher
Thales of Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. One of the Seven Sages of Greece. He was regarded as the first philosopher in the Greek by Aristotle and is often referred to as the Father of Science.
Q2. Who defined zero?
a) Brad Pitt
b) Archimedes
c) Brahmagupta
d) John von Neumann
Answer: Brahmagupta
EXPLANATION: Brahmagupta was an Indian mathematician who defined zero.
Q3. Who discovered the right triangle?
a) Pythagoras
b) Ancient Egyptians
c) Miley Cyrus
d) Michelangelo
Answer: Pythagoras
EXPLANATION: Pythagoras was a philosopher and was credited with numerous mathematical and scientific findings, constituting the Pythagorean theorem.
Q4. Who is considered the "father of mathematics"?
a) Carl Friedrich Gauss
b) Isaac Newton
c) Evariste Galois
d) Archimedes
Answer: Archimedes
EXPLANATION: The Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily, Archimedes of Syracuse was a leading scientist in classical antiquity. He was considered the greatest mathematician of ancient history, and one of the greatest of all time,
Q5. Who invented numbers?
a) Brahmagupta
b) Aryabhata
c) Euclid
d) Fibonacci
Answer: Brahmagupta, Aryabhata
EXPLANATION:
The Arabic numeral system is usually credited to two mathematicians from ancient India named Brahmagupta from the 6th century B.C. and Aryabhata from the 5th century B.C.
Q6. Who invented coordinate geometry?
a) Nicole Oresme
b) Euler
c) Galileo
d) Copernicus
Answer: Nicole Oresme
EXPLANATION:
The French philosopher of the later Middle Ages Nicole Oresmeb wrote influential works on economics, mathematics, physics, astrology and astronomy, philosophy, and theology; he was Bishop of Lisieux, a translator, a counselor of King Charles V of France, and one of the most original thinkers of 14th-century Europe.
Q7. What were some of Leonardo DaVinci's interests (must apply to both)?
a) Botany, Cartography
b) Art, Cars
c) Cooking, Archery
d) Engineering, Theater
Answer: Botany, Cartography
EXPLANATION: Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci born on 15 April 1452 was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was also an active painter, draftsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect.
Q8. Who is the only woman in history to win the Fields Medal?
a) Ada Lovelace
b) Julia Robinson
c) Maryam Mirzakhani
d) Marjorie Lee Browne
Answer: Maryam Mirzakhani
EXPLANATION: Iranian mathematician and a professor of mathematics at Stanford University Maryam Mirzakhani was a researcher in the topics included Teichmüller theory, hyperbolic geometry, ergodic theory, and symplectic geometry.
Q9. How many zeros are in 1 septuagintillion
a) 635
b) 213
c) 452
d) 157
Answer: 213
EXPLANATION: Septuagintillion is used in the short scale for 10213 and the long scale for 10420.
Q10.Which famous celebrity has a degree in math?
a) Kylie Jenner
b) Michael Jordan
c) Jay-Z
d) Justin Timberlake
Answer: Michael Jordan
EXPLANATION:
Known by his initials MJ, Michael Jeffrey Jordan is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. The basketball state was integral in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, he became a global cultural icon.
Q11.Who developed the theory of probability?
a) Wallis & Descartes
b) Bernoulli & Desargues
c) Cavalieri & Newton
d) Pascal & Fermat
Answer: Pascal & Fermat
EXPLANATION: Human activities involving quantitative analysis of data probability theory are used as a mathematical foundation for statistics.
Q12.Who was the first woman mathematician whose name we know?
a) Hypatia
b) Aphrodite
c) Zara
d) Lata Mangeshkar
Answer: Hypatia
EXPLANATION:
The Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, Hypatia who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, then part of the Eastern Roman Empire was a prominent thinker in Alexandria.
She taught philosophy and astronomy and us the first female mathematician whose life is reasonably well recorded.
Q13. What made the Hippasus of Metapontum famous?
a) Predicted the end of the world
b) Taught Brahmagupta
c) Proved the irrationality of the square root of 2
d) Discovered Pi
Answer: Proved the irrationality of the square root of 2
EXPLANATION: The Greek philosopher and early follower of Pythagoras Hippasus of Metapontum was credited with the discovery of the existence of irrational numbers.
Q14. What are the first 10 digits of Pi?
a) 3.142573494
b) 3.141592653
c) 3.141596283
d) 3.276351926
Answer: 3.141592653
EXPLANATION:
The number π spelled out as "pi" is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159. The number π appears in many formulas across mathematics and physics.
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