Author: Janet Heine Barnett
Publisher: American Mathematical Society
ISBN: 1470469898
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 458
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Book Description
“It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics one should study the masters and not the pupils.” —Niels Henrik Abel Recent pedagogical research has supported Abel's claim of the effectiveness of reading the masters. Students exposed to historically based pedagogy see mathematics not as a monolithic assemblage of facts but as a collection of mental processes and an evolving cultural construct built to solve actual problems. Exposure to the immediacy of the original investigations can inspire an inquiry mindset in students and lead to an appreciation of mathematics as a living intellectual activity. TRIUMPHS (TRansforming Instruction in Undergraduate Mathematics via Primary Historical Sources) is an NSF-funded initiative to design materials that effectively harness the power of reading primary historical documents in undergraduate mathematics instruction. Teaching and Learning with Primary Source Projects is a collection of 24 classroom modules (PSPs) produced by TRIUMPHS that incorporate the reading of primary source excerpts to teach core mathematical topics. The selected excerpts are intertwined with thoughtfully designed student tasks that prompt students to actively engage with and explore the source material. Rigorously classroom tested and scrupulously edited to comply with the standards developed by the TRIUMPHS project, each of the PSPs in this volume can be inserted directly into a course in real analysis, complex variables, or topology and used to replace a standard textbook treatment of core course content. The volume also contains a comprehensive historical overview of the sociocultural and mathematical contexts within which the three subjects developed, along with extensive implementation guidance. Students and faculty alike are afforded a deeper classroom experience as they heed Abel's advice by studying today's mathematics through the words of the masters who brought that mathematics to life. Primary sources provide motivation in the words of the original discoverers of new mathematics, draw attention to subtleties, encourage reflection on today's paradigms, and enhance students' ability to participate equally, regardless of their background. These beautifully written primary source projects that adopt an “inquiry” approach are rich in features lacking in modern textbooks. Prompted by the study of historical sources, students will grapple with uncertainties, ask questions, interpret, conjecture, and compare multiple perspectives, resulting in a unique and vivid guided learning experience. —David Pengelley, Oregon State University
Author: Michael Sean Mahoney
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691187630
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 455
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Book Description
Hailed as one of the greatest mathematical results of the twentieth century, the recent proof of Fermat's Last Theorem by Andrew Wiles brought to public attention the enigmatic problem-solver Pierre de Fermat, who centuries ago stated his famous conjecture in a margin of a book, writing that he did not have enough room to show his "truly marvelous demonstration." Along with formulating this proposition--xn+yn=zn has no rational solution for n > 2--Fermat, an inventor of analytic geometry, also laid the foundations of differential and integral calculus, established, together with Pascal, the conceptual guidelines of the theory of probability, and created modern number theory. In one of the first full-length investigations of Fermat's life and work, Michael Sean Mahoney provides rare insight into the mathematical genius of a hobbyist who never sought to publish his work, yet who ranked with his contemporaries Pascal and Descartes in shaping the course of modern mathematics.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Statistics
Languages : en
Pages : 648
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Book Description
Author: Enrique A. González-Velasco
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387921540
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 479
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Book Description
This book offers an accessible and in-depth look at some of the most important episodes of two thousand years of mathematical history. Beginning with trigonometry and moving on through logarithms, complex numbers, infinite series, and calculus, this book profiles some of the lesser known but crucial contributors to modern day mathematics. It is unique in its use of primary sources as well as its accessibility; a knowledge of first-year calculus is the only prerequisite. But undergraduate and graduate students alike will appreciate this glimpse into the fascinating process of mathematical creation. The history of math is an intercontinental journey, and this book showcases brilliant mathematicians from Greece, Egypt, and India, as well as Europe and the Islamic world. Several of the primary sources have never before been translated into English. Their interpretation is thorough and readable, and offers an excellent background for teachers of high school mathematics as well as anyone interested in the history of math.
Author: Neville McMorris
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press
ISBN: 9780838633212
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276
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Book Description
A too swift examination, for the benefit evidently of fairly naive readers, of broad philosophical and historical themes in the development of science. The ten chapters are grouped by pairs under five topical heads, which treat respectively the philosophical, aesthetic, cultural, methodological, scientific nature of science. Mathematical material encountered in the final chapter ("Classical duality in modern physics") is likely to be considered off-putting by many of the intended readers. Rather awkwardly composed, though attractively printed and bound. The author is chairman of the Physics Department at the University of the West Indies. (NW) Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Author: Heike Sefrin-Weis
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1849960054
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 347
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Book Description
Although not so well known today, Book 4 of Pappus’ Collection is one of the most important and influential mathematical texts from antiquity. The mathematical vignettes form a portrait of mathematics during the Hellenistic "Golden Age", illustrating central problems – for example, squaring the circle; doubling the cube; and trisecting an angle – varying solution strategies, and the different mathematical styles within ancient geometry. This volume provides an English translation of Collection 4, in full, for the first time, including: a new edition of the Greek text, based on a fresh transcription from the main manuscript and offering an alternative to Hultsch’s standard edition, notes to facilitate understanding of the steps in the mathematical argument, a commentary highlighting aspects of the work that have so far been neglected, and supporting the reconstruction of a coherent plan and vision within the work, bibliographical references for further study.
Author: Carl B. Boyer
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486154513
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 306
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Book Description
This study presents the concepts and contributions from before the Alexandrian Age through to Fermat and Descartes, and on through Newton and Euler to the "Golden Age," from 1789 to 1850. 1956 edition. Analytical bibliography. Index.
Author: Samuel Kotz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Mathematical statistics
Languages : en
Pages : 746
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Book Description
Author: Samuel Kotz
Publisher: Wiley-Interscience
ISBN:
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 744
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Book Description
All users of statistics will turn to the Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences as an essential reference work on statistical methods and their application to virtually all facets of human endeavor. No other source available provides such in-depth, exhaustive coverage of the philosophical foundations, theoretical bases and computational techniques of statistical methods in such a wide variety of contexts. The contributions were authored by some of the world's most distinguished statisticians and are entirely new and up-to-date. The entire encyclopedia is written in a language that the non- specialist can easily follow.
Author: Robert Parker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317964012
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 197
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Book Description
Written over a period of twenty years the papers included here reflect the changing circumstances around the study of accounting history.
