2. Why and how people develop mathematics

The development of mathematics by humans has a long and unfinished history. In this, necessarily highly selective, overview, the discussion is framed in terms of the environments – physical, cultural, socio-political, specialised – within which people, including those designated as ‘mathematicians’ do what is called ‘mathematics’ in all its many forms. These forms include the traditional divide between ‘ pure’ and ‘ applied’. A distinction is drawn between internal and external processes driving the development, and within internal drivers between those of creation and those of systematisation. The links between this chapter and Chapter 13 are stressed throughout.