MAT 300-02L, HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS
Spring 2006
Instructor: Ross Gingrich
Office: EN D-132
Office Phone: (203) 392-5581 (You may leave voice-mail messages.)
E-mail address: GingrichR1@SouthernCT.edu
Fax: (203) 392-6808
Web URL: http://www.southernct.edu/~gingrich/
Office Hours: Monday
10:30 am 11:30
am.
Tuesday
Wednesday 10:30 am
11:30 am.
Thursday 4:00 pm 5:30 pm.
Also by appointment or chance.
I will be available (at least briefly) after each class, and I am willing to
make appointments for days, evenings, and Saturdays.
Course website: http://www.southernct.edu/~gingrich/mat30002lspring2006/
You will be able to access this page by directly typing in the URL, by going
through my webpage, or by going into MyCourses in your MySCSU account. In MyCourses, click on our course, and then
on Links. Note that this site is NOT part
of the WebCT system. Once the semester has begun. I will be posting assignments, etc., to this
webpage..
Course e-mail: I will expect everyone to be able to read e-mail sent through the MySCSU system. That means that either you will need to check your MySCSU e-mail account regularly, or you will need to forward the e-mail from your Southern account to another personal account that you do check regularly. If you do not know how to access your Southern e-mail account or you do not know how to forward mail from that account to another account, please see me.
Course Description: History of mathematics from earliest days to the discovery of calculus, the proliferation of mathematics in modern times, and the implications of these developments for the present day.
Credits: 3 semester-hours of University Credit.
Course Prerequisites: One college-level mathematics course (numbered MAT 103 or above) and since this is an L-section, ENG 101 or ENG 112. Pragmatically, I will also assume a solid background in high-school algebra and high-school geometry, and an introduction to right-angle trigonometry. If you have not had a reasonable exposure to these topics, please see me.
Course Text: The History of Mathematics: Brief Version, Victor J. Katz, 2003.
References and Supplementary
“Mathematics as an expression of the human mind reflects the active will, the contemplative reason, and the desire for aesthetic perfection. Its basic elements are logic and intuition, analysis and construction, and generality and individuality. Though different traditions may emphasize different aspects, it is only the interplay of these antithetic forces and the struggle for their synthesis that constitute the life, usefulness, and supreme value of mathematical science.”
-- Richard Courant and Herbert Robbins
In this course we will study the history of mathematics from ancient to modern times. The evolution of mathematical concepts and ideas will be an important theme of the course. Some classical problems will be worked using the methods of the day. However, technical details comprise only a part of the picture. For that reason, we will consider the cultural, philosophical, and technological frameworks within which these ideas evolved. Further, we will look at the individuals involved and their impact. Finally, to the extent possible, we will trace the paths by which our knowledge of those times has come.
Course Guidelines:
“One must
learn by doing the thing;
for though you think you know it,
you have no certainty until you try.”
-- Sophocles
You
are responsible for any material covered in lecture, the text, and other assigned
readings, as well as material covered in
assigned homework problems and papers.
Some course material is not covered in the text; your main source for that will be your class
notes and related materials. Some of the
source material may also be available on various websites, with links from my
web page.
An average student should
expect to work on course material at least two to three hours outside of class
for each hour spent in class that is six to nine hours per week. If you are spending significantly less time
and not doing well, do not be surprised.
If you are spending significantly more time and not doing well, see me;
you may not be studying the material correctly.
Since our library has a limited amount of source material, please let me know the name, author, and call number of any book that you check out of the library for this course. In that way, if someone else needs to use it, we will know where it is. I will be putting a number of books on reserve in the library and will distribute in class a list of those books.
I encourage you to seek help from me, when needed. Office hours have been established for that purpose. You do not need an appointment to see me during office hours. Even if no assistance is needed, students are welcome to stop by to discuss the course material, course policies, courses to take after this one, careers in mathematics and related areas, interesting math problems, and mathematics and life in general.
Because I believe that your education at Southern should be more than just what occurs in the classroom, I will also give you the opportunity to earn extra credit, two percentage points on the non-paper part of your grade. To earn those points, you must attend two meetings or events chosen from any combination of the following: Math Club meetings, meetings of any other academic club at Southern, events sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Club, Crescent Player productions, and performances by any student musical group recognized as an activity by the University. You may attend more than one meeting/event of the same type; for example, both of your choices could be Math Club meetings. Since this is a mathematics class, if you attend a Math Club meeting, you only need to sign the attendance sheet at that meeting. For any other meeting/event, within two weeks of that meeting/event, you must submit a one-page typed report, including the date, the time, the sponsoring organization, and a summary/review/critique of the meeting/event. For meetings of clubs, include the name of the presiding officer and/or faculty advisor. If I consider your report incomplete or poorly written, I will ask you to re-write it. As with any work to be submitted, these reports should be your own work.
Continuing the thought of participation in campus activities, I will be happy to announce in class upcoming meetings or events in which you are members or participants. Write the information down on a 3×5 index card, and give it to me before class.
Grading:
Written assignments and papers will not be accepted after announced deadlines, except with the specific permission of the instructor. Even in such cases, penalties may be imposed.
Email assignments will be assigned at least once a week. The email assignments will have due dates and the assignments must be submitted by the given date and time.
Homework, quizzes, the midterm exam, and the final examination will be graded primarily on factual content and appropriate expression of ideas. In many cases, “facts” will really be interpretations of historical data. With the help of the text, I will try to give you what I consider to be the most accepted interpretations. However, if you suggest an alternate interpretation and can support it with information from two independent secondary sources or from an original work, I will give you credit for that question.
There will be two quizzes, a midterm examination, a cumulative final examination, email assignments, and 6-12 papers or writing assignments, at least one of which will be at least 1500 words in length. All of the papers taken together will comprise at least 25 pages of writing, or equivalently 6250 words; the more papers, the shorter the average length.
The papers and any other short written assignments will account for 50% of the final grade, the email assignments 5%, the final exam 18%, and the midterm and quizzes together 27%. Papers will be graded on content, style, and mechanics. An unsatisfactory paper must be rewritten and resubmitted within one week of it being returned to the student. A paper that receives a low grade may be rewritten and resubmitted at the option of the student. Any student intending to rewrite a paper must first meet with the instructor to discuss the paper. Also, some papers may be designated for revision, even if the original paper is acceptable. A paper may only be resubmitted twice. I reserve the right to make adjustments to the above grade weights at the end of the course; such adjustments will be no more than 5%. Further, when deciding your course grade, I reserve the right to consider class participation and my subjective evaluation of your commitment and general ability in working with the course material.
Accommodations for Disabilities:
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please see me as soon as possible.
Academic Honesty:
Students are expected to do their own work on examinations, papers, and other submitted work. You must neither give nor receive answers during testing times. You may not use crib sheets or other assists during exams unless specifically authorized by the instructor. Academic dishonesty is not a victimless crime. Every time that a student cheats on an exam or plagiarizes in writing a paper, that student cheapens the value of the degree of every other student.
You must properly document sources used in papers. Plagiarism is a serious offense.
Lying about reasons for missing classes or tests will also be considered academic dishonesty, as will any kind of deception that results in raising a student’s grade or decreasing his/her workload. You should be familiar with the SCSU policy on Academic Honesty, which appears in the current Student Handbook. Potential consequences of academic dishonesty are also listed in that section.
I
strongly encourage you to work together while studying. However, any work submitted should be
primarily your own. It should not
duplicate verbatim the work of any other student or source. In particular, you should not copy someone
else’s homework or paper word-for-word, even if you worked on it together. You should not ask others, particularly
tutors working for the University, to do work for you that will be submitted
for credit. However, you may discuss
those problems with the instructor. You
may also use the
Most importantly, you should be able to cite sources and explain your solutions if asked to do so. An inability to give a satisfactory explanation will be interpreted as your having submitted work other than your own. The lightest penalty for such action will be a zero on that assignment. Flagrant, repeated, and/or excessive violations will result in more severe penalties.
Attendance Policy:
Students are expected to attend classes regularly, as attendance is an essential component of class participation. Absences will have no automatic effect on your grade, but may have an effect on borderline cases at the end of the semester. It is your responsibility to contact me as soon as possible after missing any work (before, when possible); you can always leave a voice-mail message for me at 392-5581. You are responsible for any material developed during class whether or not you are present. It is a good idea to get to know at least one other person in the class, so that if you do miss a class, there is someone whose notes you can copy and from whom you can get assignments if you can not talk to me first. In general, assignments will be posted on the course webpage.
In
the early part of the semester, we may have to worry about snow days. I live sufficiently close to campus that if
the University is open, I will be here.
To check on the University’s status, you can listen to an appropriate
radio station or call Southern’s emergency
closing number, (203) 392-SNOW (7669).
Calling the Southern number is probably better. On days the University is going to delay
opening or close, there should be a message at that number no later than
Make-up Policy:
Students are expected to take exams and quizzes on the dates announced in class. If you miss an exam due to an emergency or other extenuating circumstance, you must contact me as soon as possible; do not wait until the next class. You can always call me and leave a voice-mail message, or you may send an e-mail.. Make-up exams and deadline extensions will be given at the discretion and convenience of the instructor, the decision to be made on a case-by-case basis. Factors in that decision will include the student’s overall performance in the course and the nature of the absence. If you know in advance that you will be unable to take an exam, you must inform me prior to the date of the exam so that we can discuss appropriate arrangements. As before, I will decide what constitutes a valid reason for missing the exam.
Withdrawal policy:
The last day for regular course withdrawals is March 27. Late withdrawals from the course after this date require the approval of the instructor. Such withdrawals will not be granted unless there are extenuating circumstances. By themselves poor grades will not be considered extenuating circumstances.
Some Important Dates:
Final examination: Tuesday, May 17,
First day of class for the Spring semester: Monday, January 23
Last day for add/drops: Monday, January 30
Mid-term grades: Friday, March 17.
Spring Break: Sunday, March 19 Sunday, March 26
Last day for course withdrawals: Monday, March 27.
Last day of class for this course: Tuesday, May 9.
Make-up/Reading Days: Thursday-Friday, May 11-12.
Final examination
(Tentative): Tuesday, May 16,