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Critics Corner

Review of In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman

Review of Cook's text which discusses the history and computational progress of the traveling salesman problem. Read more

Review of L'algebre au temps de Babylone: Quand les mathematiques s'ecrivaient sur de l'argile

[Translation of title: Algebra in the Time of Babylon. When Mathematics Were Written on Clay.] A thorough review of Jens Hoyrup's revision, expansion, and French translation of his own 1998 book for Danish high-school students. Read more

Review of The Genesis of Science: The Story of Greek Imagination

Review of Bertram's text on the history of Greek science. Read more

Review of The Chinese Roots of Linear Algebra

An excellent and careful study of matrix methods for solving systems of linear equations in first century China. Read more

Review of Eratosthenes' Geography

An English translation of Eratosthenes' Geography, which includes "On the Measurement of the Earth." Read more

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Problem from another time...

Brazen Lion

I am a brazen lion; my spouts are my 2 eyes, my mouth, and the flat of my foot. My right eye fills a jar in 2 days, my left eye in 3, and my foot in 4.
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Loci: Convergence

Welcome to Convergence! This section of Loci offers a wealth of resources to help you teach mathematics using its history. Please check back regularly for new articles, browse our archived articles in What's in Convergence?, and visit our newest feature, Who's That Mathematician? The Paul R. Halmos Photograph Collection. Make MAA Loci: Convergence your source for mathematics history and its use in teaching!

Convergence editors:  Janet Beery, Kathy Clark
Convergence founding editors:  Victor Katz, Frank Swetz

On this day:
Feb 8th
1587Mary, Queen of Scots, was beh...
1700Daniel Bernoulli born in Gron...
1875Birthdate of Thomas Bromwich....
1957John von Neumann died in Wash...
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Meetings & events involving the History of Mathematics

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Today's Quotation

Quine, Willard Van Orman

Just as the introduction of the irrational numbers ... is a convenient myth [which] simplifies the laws of arithmetic ... so physical objects are postulated entities which round out and simplify our account of the flux of existence .... The conceptional scheme of physical objects is [likewise] a convenient myth, simpler than the literal truth and yet containing that literal truth as a scattered part.

In J. Koenderink, Solid Shape, Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press, 1990.

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Mathematical Treasures
Featured Items:

Who's That Mathematician? Images from the Paul R. Halmos Photograph Collection

We invite you to send us information about photographs of mathematicians taken by Paul Halmos (1916-2006).
 

Mathematical Treasures

A collection of images from the George Arthur Plimpton and David Eugene Smith Collections of Mathematical Materials in the Columbia University Library.

Algebraic Formalism within the Works of Servois and Its Influence on the Development of Linear Operator Theory

How Servois' failed attempt to construct a foundation for the calculus nonetheless helped shape modern mathematics
 

Kepler: The Volume of a Wine Barrel

In his analysis of volumes of wine barrels, Kepler used ideas that would become important in differential and integral calculus. Use this article's animated visual imagery to help share Kepler's ideas with your students.

Peano on Wronskians: A Translation

How a translation of Peano's counterexample to the 'theorem' that a zero Wronskian implies linear dependence can help your differential equations students
 

Extending al-Karaji's Work on Sums of Odd Powers of Integers

An extension of Al-Karaji's formula for the sum of the cubes by a 19th century Turkish author and journal editor

Teaching and Research with Original Sources from the Euler Archive

How faculty and students can use and contribute to the MAA Euler Archive!
 

Maya Calendar Conversions

The authors provide descriptions of Maya calendar systems, photos of artifacts, examples of calendar conversions, and exercises for classroom use.

SMURCHOM: Providing Opportunities for Undergraduate Research in the History of Mathematics

A description of a long-running conference in which undergraduate mathematics students gather to share their research on the history of mathematics.
 

Combining Strands of Many Colors: Episodes from Medieval Islam for the Mathematics Classroom

The author presents five modules based on mathematics from medieval Islamic cultures for use in a variety of high school and college mathematics courses.

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