MATH 360 (HISTORY OF MATH) --- Autumn 2012
Topics Covered:
Ancient Mathematics:
Mathematics from Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, Greece. Numbers, arithmetic,
algebra, geometry. The works of Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Ptolemy, Diophantus,
Pappus.
Medieval Mathematics:
China, India, Islam, Europe. Equations, Hindu-Arabic decimal system, algebra,
geometry, trigonometry.
Early Modern Mathematics:
Algebra and other mathematical ideas in the Reniassance, analytic geometry,
the beginnings of calculus: Newton, Leibniz, et. al.
Modern Mathematics:
Topics from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries: analysis, rigor,
non-euclidean geometry, foundations and set theory.
WRITING UP HOMEWORK SOLUTIONS: You are expected to
show all essential steps in solving a problem. Draw appropriate
figures. If in doubt, PUT IT IN! Make your solution flow.
Ask yourself the question: "If I were the reader, how would I score
this problem?'' Numerical answers alone, single words "yes" or "no",
etc., are NEVER, EVER acceptable as complete answers. One of the
skills you are expected to learn in this class is that of
communicating mathematics clearly and completely in
writing. Writing up homework exercises is your opportunity to hone
these skills. Your grade depends on it!
Homework Sets:
1. p. 25: 1,2,12,27
2. p. 63: 4, 9, 15, 23
3. p. 64: 23; 99: 2,10,18
4. p. 101: 21,23;
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