Mathematics is a science that has appeared for several thousand years and has been actively used in ancient Greece. At the same time, many theoretical scientists who lived at that time made discoveries that became great and ingenious, but received real recognition several centuries later, when technology made it possible to understand the full potential of the research of ancient arithmetic. It is worth noting that all the calculations in the distant eras were carried out “in the mind” or contained large-scale records of calculations. One of the most famous Greek experts was Eratosthenes, behind the scenes called the great-great-grandfather of programming. With the advent of computer science, it was his calculations, theories, and axioms that were often transformed into computer “languages”. There were several interesting discoveries in the arsenal of mathematics, but the sieve of Eratosthenes became the most common, helping to quickly find a prime number from the presented sequence.
Biography of a scientist
Despite the fact that all the specialist’s activities took place on the territory of Ancient Greece, the future genius in Africa was born in the third century BC. The scientist studied in the largest cities of Greece, where he remained to live on a permanent basis. His teachers were famous poets, philosophers and grammars of the time.
Thanks to the diverse development and respect among like-minded people, the brilliant theoretician is invited to the post of
librarian of Alexandria, where he served until his death, creating opus and research unbelievable for that era in various fields, including the sieve of Eratosthenes. A contemporary of the scientist - the legendary Archimedes - spoke about him only in flattering tones and even dedicated a separate work to his work.
Achievements
The main feature of the ancient scientist is considered to be the versatility of the studied areas. Moreover, in almost all areas, he achieved outstanding results. Philosophy, poetry, mathematics, astronomy, music, philology, geography - for such a unique universalism in the search for knowledge, the theoretician was nicknamed Pentatle, in association with all-around sports. Of course, he did not become great in one of the studied areas, but in each of them it turned out to achieve good results.
This is evidenced by the surviving fragments of his works and studies. Despite being in some shadow of his contemporaries, the scientist made a huge contribution to the history of mathematics, and the sieve of Eratosthenes, along with a number of other well-known calculations, rightfully fell on one line with the famous geometric and arithmetic discoveries.
Name history and location details
In ancient times, all records, including mathematical calculations, were made on special wax tablets. Therefore, in calculations of an algebraic and arithmetic nature, especially during the exclusion of numbers in sequences, scientists “punctured” them on writing instruments.
After all the work, the tablet resembled the subject of
household utensils, for which the study was called the sieve of Eratosthenes
. The impetus for the discovery was the thoughts of a genius about finding primes in a natural number. The work lasted several months until the final result was achieved. In the third century BC, he became a real breakthrough.
What is an algorithm?
A quick way to find all primes in a natural order has interested scientists since time immemorial. After all, they do not have a strict sequence and are arranged in randomly random order. At the moment, experts have largely figured out and learned how to make the necessary calculations quickly enough. A simple algorithm helped them - the sieve of Eratosthenes. The ancient genius discovered it in several stages:
- A natural series is taken from one to any digit (the universal term N). It is worth noting that a few millennia ago, the unit was considered a prime number. Now it is attributed to a special species that does not have a strict definition.
- Next, cross out all the numbers divisible by two.
- Then the first of the remaining ones is taken (in this case, the triple) and all the numbers that are divided by it are excluded.
- The calculation continues until the last number in the sequence.
- The remaining row will contain only simple indicators.
Such an option has long been considered the only effective one, and with the advent of computer science, specialists were able to do calculations of more complex sequences. At the same time, even with new technologies, the sieve of Eratosthenes is an important mathematical theory.
Programming languages in the field of arithmetic calculations
Technology, computers and computer science have allowed mathematicians studying algebraic theories to enter a new stage in the development of science. First of all, taking advantage of a unique opportunity, they began to integrate well-known arithmetic and geometric studies into programming. One of the most popular electronic computing languages at that moment was, including for calculating the algorithm of the sieve of Eratosthenes, Pascal. With its help, in a few seconds it was possible to find prime numbers in a sequence of natural numbers, which for a long time were inaccessible or calculated by grand records, taking a lot of time. As a result, the practical base of the new potential has received an improved version of the ancient discovery and practical unlimited possibilities of calculations.
Use at modern Olympics in computer science
At the moment, competitions for students in various subjects are gaining popularity again. The laureates and winners of such events go to a new level of training and can get good prospects in future activities, including material grandees.
Computer science Olympiads include not only complex tasks, but also finding such well-known concepts as prime numbers. The sieve of Eratosthenes is used as the most relevant method for calculating sequences by integrating the axioms into the program code. Despite the antiquity of the discovery, this theory helps to quickly and efficiently get used to hard-to-reach calculations.