History of Mathematics - Writing Intensive
(MATH 464 WI)
Offered Spring only
Spring 2010
Time and Place: MW 4:00-5:15 pm, Room 311 Royall Hall
Professor: Richard Delaware
Office Hours: See Current Semester Office Hours
Office: Room 306 A, Manheim Hall
Mailbox: Room 206, Haag Hall, Dept. of Mathematics & Statistics
Phone: 816.235.2850
Email: delawarer@umkc.edu
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Note: This is the only Writing Intensive course in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
created by Richard Delaware, approved by the Curriculum Committee in Fall 1998, and first taught as writing intensive in Winter 2000.
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Dated Announcements (Most recent at the top)
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Syllabus, Texts, Grading
PREREQUISITES:
- The prerequisite for this course is Math 300 (Linear Algebra I), or
- Math 301 (On Solid Ground: Sets and Proof) (Recommended!).
REQUIRED TEXTS:
- A HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS: AN INTRODUCTION, 3rd Ed, Victor J. Katz.
- JOURNEY THROUGH GENIUS: THE GREAT THEOREMS OF MATHEMATICS, William Dunham
- EUCLID's ELEMENTS, Vols. 1, 2, 3, ed. Thomas L. Heath
RECOMMENDED TEXTS (for reference):
- A SOURCE BOOK IN MATHEMATICS, David Eugene Smith
- THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CALCULUS, C. H. Edwards, Jr.
In Katz, we will cover parts of Chapters 1-12 and 13-18; In Dunham, Chapters 1-4 and 6-12.
This is a "history by proofs" course, focusing as much as possible on original sources (in translation of course).
EXAMS:
- There will be two 75 min. Exams (100 points each) during the semester, each given a letter grade.
- A photocopied answer sheet will be available in the classroom immediately after each of these two Exams.
- The FINAL EXAM/Exam 3 (150 points) will be held in our usual classroom, 8:00 - 10:00 am, on FRIDAY May 7, 2010.
WRITTEN WORK:
GRADES:
- 20% -- 2 Exams (10% each)
- 15% -- Final Exam/Exam 3
- 35% -- Essays (5% each, on average)
- 30% -- 2 Papers (15% each)
- I will use grading software to provide grade reports. At the end of the semester I will drop your "most damaging" score. However, the two 10 page papers and the Final Exam (a total of 45%) cannot be dropped.
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Opportunities for Student Publication & Contests
- The Sosland Journal (UMKC English Dept.)
The annual Sosland Journal publishes exclusively student writing at UMKC. To give you sense of the range of work the journal publishes, take a look at the 2003-2004 winning essays. These essays from philosophy, economics, and astronomy (by a Math 464 WI student!) illustrate the quality of work students are doing and the range of work the Sosland Journal publishes. (Other editions of the Journal are only available in hardback form.)
The next edition of the Journal will publish the best work submitted from the latest Fall and Winter semesters. Any student who has done writing in a UMKC writing or writing intensive class this year is eligible to submit expository work from that class. All such submitted work is entered in the Ilus W. Davis Writing Competition. Three essays that represent beginning, intermediate and advanced writing samples will each receive $75.00, and publication in the Sosland Journal.
Use the entry form. Their Deadline for submissions is: May 2, 2008. Print off the form yourself and then discuss it with me. Submissions from Math 464 WI students must be recommended and signed by me, Richard Delaware. I will try to keep on hand some copies of the submission forms, and will discuss this possibly with those of you who write excellent papers or essays as the semester progresses.
A student from Math 464 WI was published and won a prize in each of Fall 2002 and Fall 2003, and two students were published in both Fall 2004 and Fall 2005, winning the Advanced Essay prize in 2005. (See the department's What's New web page, under Student-Related announcements.) So, we have a class tradition to maintain!
- Lucerna (UMKC Honors Journal)
The annual journal Lucerna publishes exclusively undergraduate student writing at UMKC. Visit their web page for a sense of the range of work the journal publishes. In Fall 2007, two students from Math 464 WI have a mathematics essay published in volume 2 of this new journal! Their Deadline is usually: February 1. So, papers you write this Spring would only be submitted next February.
- HOMSIGMAA National Contest
(History of Mathematics Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America)
HOMSIGMAA holds an annual national contest for undergraduate student writing in History of Mathematics courses across the country. Visit their web page for a sense of the range of work submitted. In each of May 2004, 2005, and 2006, a student from Math 464 WI won or co-won first prize! Their Deadline is: March 30, 2008.
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Suggested Homework Problems - Katz [Subject to Change]
- Chapter 1, p. 39: 13(False position), 23(Egypt circle area), 25(Indian circle squaring).
- Chapter 2, p. 96: 13(Euclid II-8), 15(Euclid III-20), 29.
- Chapter 3, p.129: 5(Archimedes Lemmas), 8, 10(Archimedes Method Prop. 2), 34(Pappus angle trisection).
- Chapter 4, SKIP
- Chapter 5, p.189: 8(Diophantus), 9(Diophantus), 14(Diophantus).
- Chapter 6, p.232: 1(Chinese Sea Island Mathematical Manual), 2(Jiuzhang suanshu), 31.
- Chapter 7, p.282: 21(amicable numbers), 22(amicable numbers).
- Chapter 8, p.321: 26(Fibonacci sequence).
- Chapter 9, p.379: 29(Cardano cubic), 30(Cardano cubic).
- Chapter 10, p.425: 10(Pitiscus trig).
- Chapter 11, p.462: 42(mathematical induction), 43(mathematical induction).
- Chapter 12, p.536: 26(infinite series for log 2).
- Chapter 13, p.590: 21(Maria Agnesi calculus problem).
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Exam Topics [Subject to change]
Exam 1 - Possibilities
Outline for Exam 1
Sample Problems for Exam 1
Exam 2 - Possibilities
Outline for Exam 2
Final Exam/Exam 3 - Possibilities
Outline for Final Exam/Exam 3
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