Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Contents
- 1 The Sources of Algebra
- 2 How to Measure the Earth
- 3 Numerical solution of equations
- 4 Completing the Square through the Millennia
- 5 Adapting the Medieval “Rule of Double False Position” to the Modern Classroom
- 6 Complex Numbers, Cubic Equations, and Sixteenth-Century Italy
- 7 Shearing with Euclid
- 8 The Mathematics of Measuring Time
- 9 Clear Sailing with Trigonometry
- 10 Copernican Trigonometry
- 11 Cusps: Horns and Beaks
- 12 The Latitude of Forms, Area, and Velocity
- 13 Descartes' Approach to Tangents
- 14 Integration à la Fermat
- 15 Sharing the Fun: Student Presentations
- 16 Digging up History on the Internet: Discovery Worksheets
- 17 Newton vs. Leibniz in One Hour!
- 18 Connections between Newton, Leibniz, and Calculus I
- 19 A Different Sort of Calculus Debate
- 20 A ‘Symbolic’ History of the Derivative
- 21 Leibniz's Calculus (Real Retro Calc.)
- 22 An “Impossible” Problem, Courtesy of Leonhard Euler
- 23 Multiple Representations of Functions in the History of Mathematics
- 24 The Unity of all Science: Karl Pearson, the Mean and the Standard Deviation
- 25 Finding the Greatest Common Divisor
- 26 Two-Way Numbers and an Alternate Technique for Multiplying Two Numbers
- 27 The Origins of Integrating Factors
- 28 Euler's Method in Euler's Words
- 29 Newton's Differential Equation ẏ/ẋ = 1 − 3x + y + xx + xy
- 30 Roots, Rocks, and Newton-Raphson Algorithms for Approximating √2 3000 Years Apart
- 31 Plimpton 322: The Pythagorean Theorem, More than a Thousand Years before Pythagoras
- 32 Thomas Harriot's Pythagorean Triples: Could He List Them All?
- 33 Amo, Amas, Amat! What's the sum of that?
- 34 The Harmonic Series: A Primer
- 35 Learning to Move with Dedekind
- About the Editors
Preface
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Contents
- 1 The Sources of Algebra
- 2 How to Measure the Earth
- 3 Numerical solution of equations
- 4 Completing the Square through the Millennia
- 5 Adapting the Medieval “Rule of Double False Position” to the Modern Classroom
- 6 Complex Numbers, Cubic Equations, and Sixteenth-Century Italy
- 7 Shearing with Euclid
- 8 The Mathematics of Measuring Time
- 9 Clear Sailing with Trigonometry
- 10 Copernican Trigonometry
- 11 Cusps: Horns and Beaks
- 12 The Latitude of Forms, Area, and Velocity
- 13 Descartes' Approach to Tangents
- 14 Integration à la Fermat
- 15 Sharing the Fun: Student Presentations
- 16 Digging up History on the Internet: Discovery Worksheets
- 17 Newton vs. Leibniz in One Hour!
- 18 Connections between Newton, Leibniz, and Calculus I
- 19 A Different Sort of Calculus Debate
- 20 A ‘Symbolic’ History of the Derivative
- 21 Leibniz's Calculus (Real Retro Calc.)
- 22 An “Impossible” Problem, Courtesy of Leonhard Euler
- 23 Multiple Representations of Functions in the History of Mathematics
- 24 The Unity of all Science: Karl Pearson, the Mean and the Standard Deviation
- 25 Finding the Greatest Common Divisor
- 26 Two-Way Numbers and an Alternate Technique for Multiplying Two Numbers
- 27 The Origins of Integrating Factors
- 28 Euler's Method in Euler's Words
- 29 Newton's Differential Equation ẏ/ẋ = 1 − 3x + y + xx + xy
- 30 Roots, Rocks, and Newton-Raphson Algorithms for Approximating √2 3000 Years Apart
- 31 Plimpton 322: The Pythagorean Theorem, More than a Thousand Years before Pythagoras
- 32 Thomas Harriot's Pythagorean Triples: Could He List Them All?
- 33 Amo, Amas, Amat! What's the sum of that?
- 34 The Harmonic Series: A Primer
- 35 Learning to Move with Dedekind
- About the Editors
Summary
Mathematical Time Capsules offers teachers historical modules for immediate use in the mathematics classroom. Relevant history-based activities for a wide range of undergraduate and secondary mathematics courses are included. The genesis of this volume was a Contributed Papers Session on Using History of Mathematics in Your Mathematics Courses, organized by the editors at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Antonio, Texas, in January of 2006. That session was very well attended, which prompted Andrew Sterrett from MAA publications to suggest that we put together our second volume for the MAA Notes series.
Purpose
For a wide variety of reasons, instructors are looking for ways to include the history of mathematics in their courses. It is not uncommon to see requests for “how to” posted to the History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the MAA (www.homsigmaa.org) email list, such as this 2008 posting:
… I am a newcomer to HOM. Where and how should a newcomer begin? Right now, I would liketo include HOM in a meaningful way in the courses that we teach. Weteach courses from college arithmetic to linear algebra.
In response to such inquiries, we hope to serve the broader mathematical community by offering practical suggestions on how to use the history of mathematics quickly and easily in the mathematics classroom.
A time capsule can be defined as a container preserving articles and records from the past for scholars of the future. Of course our volume does not fit that precise definition, but readers who open this book will find articles and activities from mathematics history that enhance the learning of topics typically associated with undergraduate or secondary mathematics curricula.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Mathematical Time CapsulesHistorical Modules for the Mathematics Classroom, pp. vii - xPublisher: Mathematical Association of AmericaPrint publication year: 2011