DAVAO VISION COLLEGES

Stone Rock Village, Catalunan Grande, Davao City

COURSE SYLLABUS
As of AY 2019-2020

Course Title: HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS

Course Credit: 3 units
Pre-requisite: None
Number of Hours: 3 hours every week for 18 weeks or 54 hours

Course Description:
The course presents the humanistic aspects of mathematics which provides the historical context and timeline that led to the present understanding and application of the different
branches of mathematics

Course Outcomes:

At the end of the semester, the students will be able to:

1. describe the development of various areas of mathematics within and across various civilizations
2. describe the changing character of mathematics over time and recognize the distinction between formal and intuitive mathematics
3. give examples of significant applications of mathematics to commerce, science, and general life, past and present
4. understand that history includes the interpretation the past, not just facts
5. better research historical questions and present your conclusions to others
 Course Outline and Time Table

Week 1 Early Number Systems and Symbols

Week 2-3 Mathematics in Early Civilization
Week 4-5 The Beginnings of Greek Mathematics
Week 5-6 The Alexandrian School: Euclid
Week 7-8 The Twilight of Greek Mathematics: Diophantus
Week 9-10 The First Awakening: Fibonacci
Week 10-11 The Renaissance of Mathematics: Cardan and Tartaglia
Week 11-12 The Mechanical World: Descartes and Newton
Week 13 The Development of Probability Theory: Pascal, Bernoulli, and Laplace
Week 14 The Revival of Number Theory: Fermat, Euler, and Gauss
Week 15-16 Nineteenth-Century Contributions: Lobachevsky to Hilbert
Week 16-17 Transition to the Twentieth Century: Cantor and Kronecker
Week 17-18 Extensions and Generalizations: Hardy, Hausdorff, and Noether

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Learning Plan

TIME FRAME STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES COURSE CONTENT/SUBJECT TEACHING AND LEARNING ASSESSMENT TASKS RESOURCE MATERIALS
(SLO) MATTER ACTIVITIES

At the end of the lesson the student Early Number Systems and Laptop and Projector
Week 1 will be able to: Symbols

Identify the patterns and symbols in

primitive counting  Primitive Counting

Apply the connection of primitive  Number Recording of

number system to modern number the Egyptians and
system Greeks

Apply the use systems of counting of  Number Recordings of

the early civilizations
 the Babylonians
Express appreciation on the use of
different numbers systems

Week 2-3 At the end of the lesson the student Mathematics in Early
will be able to: Civilization

Discover the early mathematics of  The Rhind Papyrus

the ancient civilizations
 Egyptian Arithmetic

Explore different early mathematics  Four problems from the

discovery Rhind Papyrus

 Egyptian Geometry
Apply the connection of early
mathematics to modern  Babylonian Mathematics
mathematics
 Plimpton
express appreciation on the use of
ancient mathematics to ancient way
of living
Week 4-5 At the end of the lesson the The Beginnings of Greek
students will be able to: Mathematics

Identify the discoveries of Greek  The Geometrical

mathematicians

Solve problems involving the
discoveries of Greek mathematicians
Apply connection of Greek
mathematics to modern
mathematics
explore different Greek
mathematicians and their discovery
Week 6-7 At the end of the lesson the
students will be able to:
Identify the different
mathematicians in the Alexandrian
School and their discoveries
Explore the contribution Euclid,
Eratosthenes and Archimedes in
modern mathematics
Apply connection of their
mathematics to modern
mathematics
Appreciate the application of their
discoveries to the contribution for
the betterment of modern
mathematics
Discoveries of Thales
 Pythagorean
Mathematics
 The Pythagorean
Problem
 Three construction
problems of Antiquity
 The Quadratrix of
Hippias
The Alexandrian School: Euclid
 Euclid and the Elements
The Alexandrian School: Euclid
 Euclidean Geometry
 Euclid’s Number Theory
 Eratosthenes, the Wise
Man of Alexandria
 Archimedes
The Twilight of Greek
Mathematics: Diophantus
 The Decline of
Alexandrian
Mathematics
 The Arithmetica
 Week 8 At the end of the lesson the The Twilight of Greek
students will be able to: Mathematics: Diophantus

Identify the different  Diophantine Equations

mathematicians outside Greece in Greece, India, and
China
explore their discoveries and
contributions  The Later Commentators

Apply connection of their  Mathematics in the

discoveries to modern mathematics Near and Far East

Appreciate the applications of their

discoveries to the modern
mathematics

Week 9-11 The First Awakening: Fibonacci

 The Declining and

 Revival of Learning

 The Liber Abaci and

Liber Quadratorum

 The Fibonacci Sequence

 Fibonacci and the

Pythagorean Problem

The Renaissance of
Mathematics: Cardan and
Tartaglia

 Europe in the
Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Centuries

 The Battle of the

Scholars

 Cardan’s Ars Magna

 Ferrari’s Solution of the

Quintic Equation

The Mechanical World:

Descartes and Newton

 The Dawn of Modern

Mathematics

Week 12 The Mechanical World:

Descartes and Newton
  Descartes: The Discours
de la Methode

 Newton: The Principia

Mathematica

 Gottfried Lebniz: The

Calculus Controversy
Week 13 The Development of Probability
Theory: Pascal, Bernoulli, and
Laplace

 The Origins of
Probability Theory

 Pascal’s Arithmetic
Triangle

 The Bernoullis and

Laplace

Week 14 The Revival of Number Theory:

Fermat, Euler, and Gauss

 Marin Mersenne and

the Search for Perfect
Numbers

 From Fermat to Euler

 The Prince of
Mathematicians: Carl
Friedrich Gauss
week 15-16 Nineteenth-Century
Contributions: Lobachevsky to
 Hilbert

 Attempts to Prove the

Parallel Postulate

 The Founders of Non-

Euclidean Geometry

 The Age of Rigor

 Arithmetic Generalized

Transition to the Twentieth

Century: Cantor and Kronecker

 The Emergence of
American Mathematics

 Counting the Infinite

week 17 Transition to the Twentieth

Century: Cantor and Kronecker

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD Required Readings and Other Materials

Required for the Students

Adam, John A. Mathematics in Nature: Modeling Patterns in the Natural World
Adam, John A. A Mathematical Nature Walk
Aufmann, R. et al. Mathematical Excursions (Chaps 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, and 13) 3rd Ed (International Edition)
COMAP Inc. For all Practical Purpose, Introduction to Contemporary Mathematics (2nd ed.)
Fisher, Carol Burns. The Language of Mathematics (from One Mathematical Cat, Please! by Carol Burns Fisher)
Fisher, Carol Burns. The Language and Grammar of Mathematics
Hersh, R. What is Mathematics Really? (Chaps 4 & 5)
Johnson and Mowry. Mathematics, A Practical Odyssey (Chaps 12)
Moser and Chen. A Student’s Guide to Coding and Information Theory
Stewart, Ian. Nature’s Numbers
Vistro-Yu, C. Geometry: Shapes, Patterns and Designs (A chapter for the new ed. of the Math 12 textbook for Ateneo De Manila University).

VIDEO
 https://www.vimeo.com/9953368

Required only for teachers

Jamison, R.E. (2000). Learning the language of mathematics. Language and Learning across the Discplines, 4(1), 45-54

Recommended for Readings

Akiyama and Ruiz. A Day’s Adventure in Math Wonderland
Aufmann et al. Mathematical Excursion (Chap. 2)
Averbach and Chein. Problem Solving Through Recreational Mathematics
Enzensberger. The Number Devil
Johnson and Mowry. Mathematics, A Practical Odyssey (Chaps. 1 and 4)
Nocheseda. Palaspas
Stewart, Ian. Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities
Sobecki, Bluman, and Schirck-Matthews. Math in our World

VIDEO
 https://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/secret/secret.html

Johnson and Mowry. Mathematics, A Practical Odyssey (Chaps. 1 and 2)

Nocheseda. Palaspas
Stewart, Ian. Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities
Sobecki, Bluman, and Schirck-Matthews. Math in our World

VIDEO
  https://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/secret/secret.html

COURSE REQUIREMENTS Individual/Group Report

Graphic Organizer/ Power Point Presentation for the Oral Report
Quizzes and Assignments
4 Major Examinations
Projects (Portfolio)
Attendance
GRADING SYSTEM Class Participation/ Class Standing Exams

Attendance and Quizzes 10% Prelim 10%

Oral Report 10% Midterm 10%
Portfolio/Assignments/Research 10% Semi-Final 10%
Recitation ________ 10% Finals 30%
Total 40% Total 60% Overall: 100%

CLASSROOM POLICIES 1. Come to class on time

2. Cellphones must be in silent mode if inside the classroom
3. Be collaborative, interactive
4. Write a one paragraph summary of every material read/ presented in the classroom
5. Raise an argument or issue during topic presentation
6. Attend classes ready with all the required materials for reading, reviewing, listening and for other activities
CONSULTATION HOURS MWF: TTH:

Prepared By: ___________________________________ Reviewed by: CONSOLACION G. GARCIA, Ed.D Approved by: CHERYL F. RIVERA, MBA
Faculty Program-Head VPAA