1/29	2/3	2/5	2/10	2/12	2/17	2/19
2/24	2/26	3/4	3/9	3/11	3/16
4/6

For Tuesday, January 29 (both classes)

• Students should be sure that they can access my webpage and this webpage.  If you are reading this on the web, you have accomplished that.
• Students should go into their MySCSU accounts and check the MAT 300 calendar.  If you have problems, try the following directions.

Go to Southern's webpage at www. southernct.edu.
Then click on the MySCSU button on the main page.
When you get to the MySCSU page, enter your user name and password.
   Your username is the same as your Southern email account.  If you are not
        sure what yours is, let me know and I will check.
   Your password is the pin you use whenever you go
        into BannerWeb. Usually your initial pin is your
        birthdate in six digits, mmddyy.
When you submit the username and passwork, it should get you into your account.
Before you come to class you should have read the following sections in the text:  1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.2.1, and 1.2.2.  Concentrate on the main ideas and the historical and cultural context.  Do not worry about the technical details of the mathemaics and number systems.  We will talk about that in class.

For Tuesday, February 3:

For both classes:

Read the rest of Section 1.1, and read Sections 1.2.1 and 1.2.2.
Do Assignments 1-4 on Assignment Sheet 1.
Also, do E-mail Assignment 1and send me the answers by 5:00 pm on Monday, February 2.  Note that the answers to the these questions are short-answer and just require reading the assigned sections.
 

  For both classes:

• Read the handout describing the contents of the Rhind Papyrus and the Moscow Papyrus and have a general idea of the contents of each.  We will discuss this material in class on Thursday.
• There is no additional reading assignment for Thursday.
• There is no email assignment for Thursday.
• There is no additional written homework for Thursday.  I got tied up after class last night and did not have a chance to put together the homework assignment on Babylonian numbers.  Since I do not know whether I will have a chance to do so today, I will instead write the problems up and include them in the assignment for next Tuesday.

• Reminder for the L-Section:  Paper #1 is due Thursday, February 5.
   

For both classes:

• Do E-mail assignment 2 on the E-mail Assignment page.  The answers to the questions should be sent to me by 7:00pm on Monday, February 9.
• Do Assignments 5 and 6 on Homework Sheet 2.
• This is no additional reading assignment for Tuesday, although you are welcome to read ahead.  At this point, you should have read all of Section 1.1, and Sections 1.2.1 and 1.2.2.
• There will be no paper due in the L-section this week.  However, I will hand out and post the next paper assignment sometime this week.

 

• Finish reading the rest of Chapter 1.
• No additional homework assignment for 2/12.
• No e-mail assignment for 2/12.
• Section 1 has a problem due from Assignment 6.

 

For both classes:

• Do E-mail assignment 3 on the E-mail Assignment page.  The answers to the questions should be emailed to me by 2:00 pm on Tuesday, February17.
• Do Assignment 7 on Homework Sheet 3.
• For Section 01 only -- Do Assignment 8 on Homework Sheet 3.

 

Wednesday, February 18 ---I was not able to finish putting together the assignment for February 19, so there will be no formal assignment, email or homework, for that date. However, I may take what I started and post it on the website today, but with a due date of February 24.
 

For both classes:

• In the course text, read the introduction to Chapter 2, Section 2.1.1., and Section 2.1.2.
• Go to the following website:
  The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive   (University of St. Andrews, Scotland)
  http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/   .
  When you get to the website, click on History Topics and then Ancient Greek Mathematics.  This will get you to a list of topics on ancient Greek mathematics.  I want you to read the following articles on this website:
  “How do we know about Greek mathematics?”
  “How do we know about Greek  mathematicians?”
  "Squaring the circle"
  "Doubling the cube". 
  It would be useful for you to print out each of these articles, since we may refer to them in class discussion.
  In addition, on the same website, look up and read the biographies of Thales and Pythagoras.
   

• Do E-mail Assignment 4.  The answers should be emailed to me by 6:00pm on Monday, February 23.

• Students in Section 01 should do all of Assignment 9 on Homework Sheet 4.  Part E is due on Thursday, February 26.

• Students in Section 02L should do parts A, B, C, and D of Assignment 9 on Homework Sheet 4.

• Paper 2 Assignment for the L-section.

• For MAT 300-01 students:  It turns out that the numbers in #8 on p.26, the false position problem, are a lot nastier than I had expected.  Do the problem using the method of false position, but use our fractions and our methods of computation.  For example, you should say something like:  "What do I  do to 19 to make it 2?  I would need to multiply it times 2/19?  Then, so must I ....".  You do not need to use the Egyptian methods of multiplication and division nor do you need to express your answer in terms of unit fractions.  If you still have questions, e-mail me or stop by the office.

  For Thursday, February 26:

• There will no new reading, e-mail, or written assignments for Thursday, February 26.
• The quiz has been moved from Tuesday, March 2, to Thursday, March 4.
• The due date for Paper 2 has been moved to Tuesday, March 2.
   

For Thursday, March 4:

• Reading Assignment: 
  In the text, read up to Section 2.2.1.  .
  On the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive website, read the biographies of Plato, Aristotle, Eudoxus, Euclid, Eudemus, and Proclus.
• Do E-mail Assignment 5.
• On page 62-63 in the tezt, read problem 1 and do problems 3 and 6.
• On the The National Curve Bank, look at the entry on the Quadratrix of Hippias  and the entry on Two Classics.
   

For Tuesday, March 9:

• You should be sure to have finished the assignments listed above for Thursday, March 4.
• Do E-mail assignment 6.
   

For Thursday, March 11:

• Carefully read the rest of Chapter 2 in the text.  Without worrying excessively about the technical details, try to get a sense of the structure of Euclid's Elements.  For example, is the ordering of the books important?  If so, why?
• There will be no E-mail assignment for March 11.
• There will be no additional homework assignment for March 11.
   

For Tuesday, March 16:

• Reading assignment:  By now, you should have read all of Chapter 2.  You should now carefully read the introduction to Chapter 3 and all of Section 3.1 (up through page 75).  In addition, you should read the articles on Eratosthenes and Archimedes in the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive.
• Do E-mail Assignment 7.
• I will be posting an additional homework assignment Sunday morning.
   

For Tuesday, April 6:

• Reading Assignment:  Read the rest of Chapter 3, taking note of the concepts being developed and the mathematicians being discussed.  For now, you do not need to worry about technical details.  Also, in the MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, you should read the articles on Apollonius, Hipparchus, and the mathematician (Claudius) Ptolemy.  Finally, re-read the MacTutor article "How do we know about Greek mathematicians", which was orignally assigned when we began to study Greek mathematics.
• If you would like to see pictures of medieval copies of some Greek works, go to Library of Congress Vatican Exhibit  and check out the Mathematics link.  This website is also listed in the links on the main course page.  Some of these will be in the original Greek, and some will be Latin translations.
• Do E-mail Assignment 8.  It is due by noon on Tuesday, April 6.
• I have not yet gotten my email from the scribe for last class.  When I do, I will add to this list anything else that I assigned that night (if there was anything).
• I will be posting some additional assignments before the end of the weekend, but nothing else that will be due on Tuesday.

MAT 300 Homepage

Last update:  April 3, 2004