What mathematicians have perceived as being the foundations of mathematics has changed over the centuries. Many people still think that maths is based on "numbers".
What mathematicians have perceived as being the foundations of mathematics has changed over the centuries. Many people still think that maths is based on "numbers".
A more sophisticated belief, particularly after the invention of coordinate geometry, was that all of maths can ultimately be described in terms of geometry, and that hence Euclid's geometry represented the foundations of mathematics. The downfall of this view came with the discovery of non-Euclidean geometry in the 19th century, but this then led to a movement to base each individual branch of maths on its own set of axioms.
Algebraic Transcendental Numbers
Foundations of Mathematics History of Mathematics Module 
Links to other History of Mathematics sites
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