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Article: Mathematics
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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MATHEMATICS
MATHEMATICS.
In his "Mathematical Praeface" to the
Elements of Euclid
of 1570, Elizabethan polymath John Dee (1527
–
1608) expounded on the importance and utility of mathematics to all fields of human endeavor. Field after field, he argued, from those we would find obvious (like navigation) to those we would find arcane (astrology) or outlandish
(thaumaturgike),
would benefit from the systematic application of mathematics. Although Dee was promoting a role for mathematics that was just taking shape during his lifetime, his vision did indeed prove prophetic. Undoubtedly, one of the most striking features of intellectual life in the early modern period is the startling ...