History Alive! Online Resources in a History of Math Course

History Alive!

Online Resources in a History of Math Course

Reva NarasimhanKean University, Union, NJ

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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

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 Others by Berlinghoff and Gouvea

• The Mathematical Universe: An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, Problems, and Personalities by William Dunham

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

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 athttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dxjls/clips

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

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

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

Mathematics ofBrahmagupta and Bhaskara

Translation by Henry Colebrooke

From Archives.org

An English translation of Newton’s PrincipiaFrom University of California, Digital Libraries

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

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

Thank you!

• [email protected]• www.mymathspace.net/presentations