Topics Mathematics

Question Could math have possibly developed without the cartesian coordinate system? Or is this a necessary and therefore inevitable construct that would must be discovered "sooner or later"? - andy c. nguyen

Accepted:
December 20, 2005

Comments

Well, the first thing to say is that mathematics did develop for some time without the Cartesian co-ordinate system. And there are plenty of branches of mathematics where it isn't terribly important, for example, abstract algebra. It's also worth saying that there are lots of other co-ordinate systems, for example, polar co-ordinates.

What is true is that Cartesian co-ordinates brought two powerful branches of mathematics, geometry and analysis, into a close relationship they had not previously enjoyed. I don't see any reason such a relationship would have had to be discovered at some point, but it is an extremely natural one.

Question Could math have possibly developed without the cartesian coordinate system? Or is this a necessary and therefore inevitable construct that would must be discovered "sooner or later"? - andy c. nguyen Accepted:December 20, 2005

Question Could math have possibly developed without the cartesian coordinate system? Or is this a necessary and therefore inevitable construct that would must be discovered "sooner or later"? - andy c. nguyen

Accepted:
December 20, 2005