SME 430:

History of Mathematics
Instructors
Aaron Brakoniecki
Funda Gonulates

1
Itinerary
Syllabus/Course Assignments
Introductions/Cards
Timeline Activity
Break (10 minutes)
Brief Introduction
Number Systems Groupwork

2
Room Information

Tuesdays from 4:10pm-7:00pm

Room C214 Wells Hall
Lab in B100-C Wells Hall

3
Assignments
Homework
Will be assigned every week. Will
consist of readings, math problems,
and discussion topics.
Turned in electronically (via
ANGEL) or on paper.

4
 Assignments (Cont’d)

Biography Project
One time, we will assign you one
mathematicians/mathematical thinkersfor
you to write a biography on.
Give a brief presentation at the beginning of
the next class.

5
 Assignments (Cont’d)
Group timeline project
We will randomly assign groups of 3-4
Each week, one group is responsible for
creating a timeline of important world
history events for a date range that will be
assigned to your group.
Give a brief presentation at the beginning of
the next class.
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 Assignments (Cont’d)
History of Mathematics Portfolio
Will include activities completed in class,
homework assignment returned back, the
biography assignment you composed, the
timeline assignment your group wrote,
reflections done for class, and a list of sources
you find useful for the class.
Physical or Electronic
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 Assignments (Cont’d)

Activities/Participation Points
Every week we will have activities to do in
class
Participation points will be earned through
contributions to class discussions and these
activities

8
 Assignments (Cont’d)

Final Exam
Tuesday, May 4th from 5:45pm-7:45pm
Will utilize the materials from class and
create a product, which will be discussed later.

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 Potential Points Breakdown
Assignment Points/Frequency Max Points
Homework 10 pts X 15 times 150 pts
Biography Project 50 pts 50 pts
Group Timeline 15 pts 15 pts
Portfolio 20 pts X ~3 times ~60 pts
Participation Points 25 pts 25 pts
Final Exam 100 pts X 1 time 100 pts
Total Points 400 pts

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 Policies
Attendance
Everyone is allowed 2 excused absences without
penalty
Excused means you emailed us with your excuse
within 24 hours of the class. This is your
responsibility, we will not remind you.
Every unexcused absences, and any absence beyond
the first two excused will each result in your final
grade being lowered by 0.5.

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 Policies (Cont’d)
Late Work
Handwritten work can be turned in by noon the day
after it is due without penalty. If you slip it under a
door or in our mailbox, let us know it is there waiting.
Electronic work can by submited by 11:59pm the day
it is due without penalty.
Submissions after these grace periods will have the
assignment grade reduced by half.

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 Policies (Cont’d)
Academic Honesty - No student shall
claim or submit the academic work of another as one’s own.
procure, provide, accept or use any materials containing questions or
answers to any examination or assignment without proper
authorization.
complete or attempt to complete any assignment or examination for
another individual without proper authorization.
allow any examination or assignment to be completed for oneself, in
part or in total, by another without proper authorization.
alter, tamper with, appropriate, destroy or otherwise interfere with the
research, resources, or other academic work of another person.
fabricate or falsify data or results. ...
Depending on our judgement, you may receive a failing grade for the
assignment or for the course.

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Text Book

Berlinghoff, W.P. and

Gouvêa, F.O. Math through
the ages: A gentle history
for teachers and others.
Farmington, MA: Oxton
House Publishers; 2002

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Introductions
15
Create-a-Card
Attendance
Something to help 1

Leave Some Space

me remember you 2
(joke/drawing/etc.) 3
.
Unusual fact to .
share .
Last Name Phonetically 14
How you would like to be addressed 15

Something you hope to (learn about in/get out of) this class

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Timeline Activity
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 One of the greatest works in the history of mathematics
~300
BC
was Euclid’s The Elements. Approximately when was
The Elements first published?

Many mathematical problems (such as Xeno’s

1680
AD paradoxes) were able to be explained with the use of
Calculus. Approximately when was Calculus invented?

Fibonacci’s Liber Abaci is credited with introducing the

1202
AD
Hindu-Arabic place value decimal system and Arabic
numerals to Europe. When was Liber Abaci published?
While the use of “0” as a placeholder was somewhat
7th common, the notion of 0 as a number in itself took
Century
much longer to be accepted. Approximately when did 0
start being used as a number?
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Break - Back in 10 min
19
The History Problem

We must rely on written records

missing, conflicting, agreeing
Take everything with a grain of salt

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How did math begin?

Before there was mathematics, there was

counting.
Nominal - How many?
Ordinal - What order?

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Artifacts
30,000 years old

55 notches in groups
of 5 are cut into wolf
bone, first 25 are
separated by a
double notch.

One-to-one
correspondence

Base number system

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 Written Mathematics
Earliest written mathematics is engraved on
the stone head of the ceremonial mace of the
Egyptian King Menes. (lived about 3,000 BC).
It records a plunder of 400,000 oxen,
1,422,000 goats, and 120,000 prisoners.
Civilizations needed a way of recording
numbers, including large numbers...

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Number Systems Activity
In your groups, read the number system
summary I gave you.
Design a poster explaining your number
system, as well as solving a math
problem or two.
Make sure every person in your group is
able to explain your number system!

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Homework
In “Math Through the Ages...”, read
Sketch 1 - Keeping Count (Writing
Whole Numbers) p. 61-66, and
Sketch 2 - Reading and Writing
Arithmetic (Where the Symbols Came
From) p. 67-70
Respond to the discussion forum on
ANGEL
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