Historical Development's Impact: Knowledge of Discipline Essay

This essay investigates the relationship between the quality of knowledge and its historical development, using meteorology and mathematics as contrasting examples. It argues that in meteorology, historical data and technological advancements have significantly improved the accuracy of weather forecasting and climate research, leading to high-quality knowledge. The essay highlights the importance of historical data and technological advancements, such as computer models and advanced instruments, in producing reliable and objective knowledge. Conversely, in mathematics, the essay suggests that historical development may not always be directly proportional to knowledge quality, as new theories and approaches can supersede earlier ones. The essay provides examples of mathematicians such as Archimedes, Riemann, and Pascal, demonstrating how new insights and methods can evolve independently of prior developments. The essay concludes that while historical development can be a significant factor in knowledge creation, it is not a prerequisite for producing high-quality knowledge, and the relationship varies depending on the specific discipline.

Running head: KNOWLEDGE AND HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF DISCIPLINE
Knowledge and Historical Development of Discipline
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Proportionality is indicative of direct or the indirect relationship between two
variables. The quality of knowledge can be defined by the help of two variables-its validity
and its importance (Scharlau and Hans, pp 98). The two variables that will be explained
during the course of this essay are the quality in relation to historical knowledge and to what
extent it is dependent on the time it took to develop the knowledge. This essay explores the
relation between the quality of the knowledge and the historical development of the
discipline. This essay expounds in great length how in the case of meteorology historical
development can prove to be fruitful whereas pertaining mathematics it cannot be said that
the quality differs with historical development because the theories are independent in
relation to each other.
It can be claimed that to a certain extent historical development can give birth to
knowledge of high quality. In the academic field of meteorology, high quality knowledge can
be got with the help of reproduction of the experiments. Meteorology is an important branch
of that of atmospheric sciences and it primarily focuses on the arena of weather forecasting.
Study in relation to meteorology goes back to the millennia however great amount of
progress was not made till the emergence of 18th century. Historical data was made use of in
the arena of meteorology in order to discover new facts. Development in relation to climate
research stands as an example of this view (Fleming, pp 206). Climate Change was observed
in the beginning of the 19th century and it has been almost 200 years since it was observed.
There was not enough technology at that point of time that suggested that change in relation
to climate was real. Quality of knowledge in relation to this field was not much at this point
of time.
Quality in relation to meteorological knowledge is dependent on the factor of
accuracy of the instrument. It depends on the factor of accuracy of that of base data which are
used for the testing and creation of theories. Data that is available can provide many

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opportunities that can help in producing objective knowledge that is accurate (Younis and
Javed, pp 158). Technology has also greatly facilitated in the process of obtaining great
amount of knowledge. Historical development taking place in the era of the 1990’s was able
to furnish relevant knowledge in relation to this discipline. Improvements in relation to
computer models and that of observational world was able to put forward the significant
theory of Milankovitch that said that the movements of the earth resulted in climate change. It
was able to produce knowledge of great quality. With the passage of time, availability in
relation to technology also increased that helps people in getting a better understanding of the
world (Nelson and Richard, pp 306). It helped in improving the prediction in relation to
natural sciences. Technology is crucial for the creation of plans along with strategies.
With the advancement made in the field of technology, scientists have been able to
make use of efficient equipments that helps in the process of collection of data. Doppler
radar, satellite data, radiosondes, automated service-observing system, supercomputers and
AWIPS has helped in the process of prediction of weather in the recent days (Gagné, pp 210).
More research work is being conducted with the development of time that has helped in
unravelling important information related to meteorology. With the passage of time, it was
possible to get data from that of different disciplines that can help in the process of allocating
probabilities in relation to different occurrences (Fleming, pp 206). It can in the coming years
lead to the development of knowledge that is more accurate and verified from different
sources.
High quality of knowledge is sometimes produced without a long duration of time in
relation to historical developments. It can be said in relation to the academic discipline of
mathematics that historical development may not give birth to knowledge of high quality. It
is not necessary to depend on the knowledge that has been produced by that of other people
in relation to the field of mathematics. By practicing the academic discipline of mathematics,

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an individual will be able to bring about improvements in his knowledge. An individual will
be able to develop his skill set if he practices mathematics. The learning of individual steps in
the independent manner can help one in acquiring knowledge related to mathematics.
Knowledge in relation to mathematics is not always gained when another individual is
discovering something (Chandrasegaran et al., pp 187). Archimedes was a Greek
mathematician who was considered as a leading scientist. He was responsible for anticipating
the modern calculus and the analysis of it. He applied the concept of the infinitesimals in
order to derive geometrical theorems.
The mathematical writings in relation to Archimedes have become redundant to a
certain extent in the present age. The theories have undergone change with the passage of
time and new theories have evolved in the present age. There are many mathematicians in the
recent days who have discovered new theories that are widely used. Some of the luminaries
are Bernhard Riemann and Pascal who have formulated their own theories that are popular
among the academicians today (Cellucci, pp 67). Bernard Riemann, a German mathematician
made contributions in relation to number theory along with that of different geometry. He is
widely known for the formulation of that of the integral and the Riemann surface broke new
ground in relation to geometric treatment. He produced a paper dealing with prime-counting
function that became an influential paper in relation to analytic number theory (Younis and
Javed, pp 158). He was responsible for setting the ground in relation to general relativity. He
was responsible for investigating zeta function that established the importance of that of
prime numbers (Wilder, pp 89). The interesting development in the work of Riemann is of
significance in the present age. Blaise Pascal influenced mathematics throughout the course
of his life. He created a tabular presentation of that of the binomial coefficients which is in
the present age known as Pascal’s triangle. Pascal said that procedures in relation to geometry
were quite perfect and certain principles were assumed and other propositions could be

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developed from them. Riemann along with Pascal have formulated new theories that can help
in solving complex mathematical problems. The geometry approach of Riemann is different
from that of Archimedes (Scharlau and Hans, pp 98). The opinion and the ideas of the
theorists are independent of each other and it shows that high quality knowledge can be
produced without long duration of that of historical development.
Ken Ono who is a reputed mathematician has been able to achieve breakthrough in
relation to the theory of that of partitions. His research team has been able to discover the
important fact that the partition numbers act like fractals. They have created first finite
formula that can help in the calculation of partition of a number (Ramsey, pp 90). This shows
how new theories are evolving that does not take into account the theories of the earlier
mathematicians. It hence goes against the opinion of some who say that quality in relation to
knowledge is directly proportional to that of its historical development. The 20th century saw
Ramanujan along with Hardy inventing circle method. It brought about the approximation of
partition of number beyond that of 200 (Wilder, pp 56). They left trying to find the exact
answer but rather settled for that of an approximation. The gradual changes brought about in
the in the field of mathematics shows that the work produced at a particular time may not be
of much use at a later point of time.
The mathematics in the era of 1800’s will seem strange in the present age on account
of the fact that the theories have been reworked in post-modern approach. The evolution of
mathematics was witness to seven periods namely proto-mathematics, ancient mathematics,
classical mathematics, mercantile mathematics, pre-modern mathematics, modern
mathematics and post-modern mathematics (Ramsey, pp 90). Modern mathematics is unified
as compared to that of pre-modern mathematics but it is still different from the mathematics
of the present age. Deep structure pertaining to mathematical fields was discovered but the
approach was not standardized (Scharlau and Hans, pp 98). In the present period,

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mathematics was re-worked in a manner that can reflect the deep structure permeating the
field of mathematics. The mathematics of the present age is characterized by set theoretical
language. Mathematics has undergone a lot of changes in terms of mathematical structure,
system and the properties.
Long duration of that of the historical development can prove to be powerful when
one tries to generate consensus within a group. Long duration in the field of historical
development can contribute in producing knowledge of high quality. It is however not a
prerequisite or an absolute necessity. It can hence be said that quality of the knowledge is not
proportional to the length of historical development. There exists many different factors that
can contribute to quality of knowledge. It can hence be deduced that no clear link exists
between that of variables. It is rather dependent on the arena of knowledge that has been
elaborated with the help of the above points.

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References:
Cellucci, Carlo. Rethinking logic: Logic in relation to mathematics, evolution, and method.
Dordrecht: Springer, 2013.
Chandrasegaran, Senthil K., et al. "The evolution, challenges, and future of knowledge
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Fleming, James, ed. Historical essays on meteorology, 1919–1995: The Diamond
Anniversary history volume of the American Meteorological Society. Springer, 2016.
Gagné, Robert M., ed. Instructional technology: foundations. Routledge, 2013.
Nelson, Angela B., and Richard M. Shiffrin. "The co-evolution of knowledge and event
memory." Psychological Review120.2 (2013): 356.
Ramsey, Frank Plumpton. Foundations of mathematics and other logical essays. Routledge,
2013.
Scharlau, Winfried, and Hans Opolka. From Fermat to Minkowski: lectures on the theory of
numbers and its historical development. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.
Wilder, Raymond L. Evolution of mathematical concepts: An elementary study. Courier
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Wilder, Raymond L. Mathematics as a cultural system. Elsevier, 2014.
Younis, Syed Muhammad Zubair, and Javed Iqbal. "Estimation of soil moisture using
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