Chapter 2 MODELS AND HISTORY OF MODELING

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itself was written to be an algebra manual for commercial use, and explained. in detail the arithmetical rules using numerical examples which were derived, …

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Chapter 2
MODELS AND HISTORY OF MODELING
Hermann Schichl
Institut f¨ur Mathematik der Universit¨at Wien
Strudlhofgasse 4, A-1090 Wien, Austria
Hermann.Schichl@esi.ac.at
Abstract After a very fast tour through 30,000 years of modeling history, we describe the
basic ingredients to models in general, and to mathematical models in particular.
Keywords: Modeling, History of Modeling, Model, Mathematical Model
2.1 The History of Modeling
The word “modeling” comes from the Latin word modellus. It describes
a typical human way of coping with the reality. Anthropologists think that
the ability to build abstract models is the most important feature which gave
homo sapiens a competitive edge over less developed human races like homo
neandertalensis.
Although abstract representations of real-world objects have been in use since
the stone age, a fact backed up by cavemen paintings, the real breakthrough of
modeling came with the cultures of the Ancient Near East and with the Ancient
Greek.
The first recognizablemodelswere numbers; counting and “writing” numbers
(e.g., as marks on bones) is documented since about 30.000 BC. Astronomy and
Architecture were the next areas where models played a role, already about
4.000 BC….