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History Alive! Online Resources in a History of Math Course

[. History Alive! Online Resources in a History of Math Course. Reva Narasimhan Kean University, Union, NJ. Background. Kean University is a comprehensive, regional university in New Jersey Students in the course is required for math education majors

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History Alive! Online Resources in a History of Math Course

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  1. [ History Alive! Online Resources in a History of Math Course Reva Narasimhan Kean University, Union, NJ

  2. Background • Kean University is a comprehensive, regional university in New Jersey • Students in the course is required for math education majors • The course is a writing emphasis course • Instructor has background in mathematics, not trained as a historian of math • For the instructor: History lectures from EdX or Coursera

  3. Structure of Course • Main Texts • Internet resources supported and enhanced the material from the text • Objective : Intertwining history and mathematics in context • Math Through the Ages: A Gentle History for Teachers and Othersby • Berlinghoffand Gouvea • The Mathematical Universe: An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, • Problems, and PersonalitiesbyWilliam Dunham

  4. Timeline and Historical Context • Objective here is to give a visual anchor to the different time periods • Internet Resource: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History From the Metropolitan Museum of Art • Comparative humanities: Idea of using art history as a lens to view math history

  5. Videos • BBC series The Story of Maths(Films on Demand from Kean Library), hosted by Marcus du Sautoy, Oxford University • Covered history of math over four episodes • The Language of the Universe • The Genius of the East • The Frontiers of Space • To Infinity and Beyond • Clips can be viewed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dxjls/clips

  6. Videos • Fermat’s Last Theorem, BBC documentary by Simon Singh • For undergrads in a primarily teaching institution, it highlighted modern mathematical research • The Math Life

  7. Incorporating the videos • Students assigned to watch them on their own • Documentary was filmed on location and provided a perspective that cannot be replicated in a classroom lecture • Reinforced the reading assignments – students would often refer to some scene in the video during class discussion

  8. Manuscripts via digitized collections • What did math notation look like in older manuscripts? • What was the evolution of mathematical notation? • These resources span multiple sites • Liber Abaci by Leonardo of Pisa • Whetstone of Witte by Robert Recorde • History of Mathematical Notations by Florian Cajori via Google Books

  9. Mathematics of Brahmagupta and Bhaskara Translation by Henry Colebrooke From Archives.org

  10. An English translation of Newton’s Principia From University of California, Digital Libraries

  11. Linking across time • NY Times article on Andrew Wiles’s proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem • NPR interview with Keith Devlin on Leonardo of Pisa • Euler Bridges of Konigsberg and graphs in the Internet era of Social Networking • Descartes and the connection between algebra and geometry linking to the use of dynamic geometry software

  12. Resources • The MacTutor History of Math archives • Mathematical Treasures (MAA) • Mathematics Illuminated – Learner.org • Original sources • Course web page for History of Math: http://bit.ly/math3891

  13. Thank you! • RNARASIM@KEAN.EDU • www.mymathspace.net/presentations

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