The history of matrices goes back to ancient times, but the term "matrix" was not applied up to 1850. The term "matrix" is a latin word which means ‘womb’, as a name for an array of numbers. The term "matrix" was first introduced by J.J.Sylvester in 1848.

It is not surprising that the beginnings of matrices and determinants should arise through the study of systems of linear equations. The Babylonians studied problems which lead to simultaneous linear equations. The Chinese, between 200 BC and 100 BC, came much closer to matrices than the Babylonians. The text "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" gives the first known example of matrix methods to solve simultaneous equations.

Arthur Caylay used the matrices to write simultaneous equations. Two great mathematicians Jacobi and Cauchy contributed to the development of ‘determinants’ in matrices.

Almost sixty years after the invention of matrices, Heisenberg a famous physicist, used the matrices for his work on "Quantum Mechanics".

Today, matrix theory is used in the study of physical sciences, engineering, statistics, economics, sociology, designing computer games and graphics.