The story of the cubic equations is another great example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubic_equation
Dudes straight up used to hoard solutions to equations and use them in math battles.
Showing my ignorance, but the only thing I can picture when I hear 'math battles' is akin to the 'street Countdown' scene from the IT Crowd
Right, the point is we're trying to avoid reverting back to such practices.