maths is all around us it's almost
impossible to think of something that's
made without the help of mathematics
buildings transport technology medicine
even clothes and food or rely on numbers
measurements and sums early pioneers
discovered and explored the world using
great ingenuity and varied mathematical
skills navigating by the Sun and stars
to find their way by measuring their
position and relation two key points on
earth they could navigate and travel
thousands of kilometers the surface of
the earth can be divided like a
chessboard with the lines of latitude
and longitude using maths and a tool
called a sextant navigators could find
their latitude and longitude by
measuring the angle between two objects
relative to the horizon it was very
complicated involving calculations
celestial maps and charts the principle
was that an object would be positioned
above a certain point of latitude and
longitude at a particular time of day
this made positioning possible now every
point on each line has its own number
known as a coordinate so it's possible
to find anywhere on the globe with just
two numbers where the lines cross modern
computers using similar maths can find
any location using the global
positioning system or GPS this network
of 24 satellites 18,000 kilometers above
the earth is capable of locating any
position to within three and a half
meters and tracking journeys to any
destination GPS was originally developed
for the US military but is today
available in numerous vehicles and
electronic devices so how does GPS
calculate your position with the same
mathematical measurements that are
ancestors used let's say you want to
find your current position using GPS at
all times you are in the line of sight
of at least four satellites a minimum of
three locate your position using
latitude and longitude by measuring the
distance and angle between three
satellites and your smartphone they can
pinpoint you exactly the fourth
calculates your altitude this network of
orbiting satellites constantly transmits
signals at the speed of light so all
this happens in the blink of an eye
complex maths then visualizes your
position in a 3d landscape even if you
are at the top of a mountain GPS
technology can now be found everywhere
the same technology also makes it
possible to remotely pilot small
vehicles and has turned the driverless
car into a reality
mass made it possible for our ancestors
to discover the world and today mass
makes it easier than ever for us to
travel the globe using whatever form of
transport we wish