MAT 300-02L

Spring 2006

 

Paper #3

Due April 6.

600-700 words.  The paper should be double-spaced.

 

Most students have heard of Euclid’s Elements, but very few have actually studied the original.  In doing so, many are surprised by some of the things that are found in the work.  Write a paper on your own reaction to Euclid’s Elements.  As part of the paper, give a concise summary of the contents.  I do not want a professional mathematician’s view of the Elements; I want yours.  I do not expect you to do an extensive amount of research for this paper.  Most of it should be based on the text and the class discussions.  If you want to look at the actual work, you can find the Elements online at David Joyce’s Euclid’s Elements Online  http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/elements/elements.html .

There is a link to this site in the list of links at the bottom of the course webpage.

 

Some of the things that you might consider in your paper include the following:

·        What did you know about the Elements prior to this course?

·        Did you have preconceptions of the work and were those preconceptions supported or challenged?

·        With what results were you already familiar?

·        What parts of the work surprised you?

·        What is the most important mathematical idea/concept/process that you have learned from our study of the Elements?

·        What is the most important historical idea/concept/interpretation that you have learned from our study of the Elements?