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Mathematicians: An Outer View of the Inner World
Portraits of 92 living mathematicians, with autobiographical comments. Read more
Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometries: Development and History
This textbook seamlessly combines the history of non-Euclidean geometry with the mathematical ideas. Read more
Pythagoras' Revenge
A novel dealing with Pythagoras and his followers Read more
Problem from another time...
Faster than a Speeding Horse
A horse, halving its speed each day, travels 700 miles in 7 days. How far does it travel each day?
See whole problem
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, look at all the archived articles in What's in Convergence?, and send us your comments and suggestions. As of July 1, 2009, the editors of this section are Janet Beery and Kathy Clark. The founding editors, Victor Katz and Frank Swetz, continue to be involved, mostly in the expansion of Mathematical Treasures.
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| 1602 | Birthdate of Jacques de Billy... |
| 1640 | Phillipe de LaHire born in Pa... |
| 1871 | Augustus DeMorgan died. To f... |
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Meetings & events dealing with the History of Mathematics
Today's Quotation
A scientist worthy of his name, about all a mathematician, experiences in his work the same impression as an artist; his pleasure is as great and of the same nature.
In N. Rose Mathematical Maxims and Minims, Raleigh NC:Rome Press Inc., 1988.
Illustrations
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Italian armillary sphere from 1550 | |
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Mathematical TreasuresA collection of images from the George Arthur Plimpton and David Eugene Smith Collections of Mathematical Materials in the Columbia University Library. |
HOM SIGMAA 2009 Award WinnersThese are the winning entries from the annual History of Mathematics SIGMAA Student Paper Contest. |
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"In these numbers we use no fractions": A Classroom Module on Stevin's Decimal NumbersAfter completing this assignment on Simon Stevin's treatment of decimal fractions in his 1585 De Thiende, the author's preservice mathematics teachers understood why our usual procedure for multiplying such fractions works. |
The Classic Greek Ladder and Newton's MethodGreek ladders for approximating square roots may be more ancient than the ancient Greeks. Students at any level can appreciate their beauty and simplicity. Those who have studied calculus can compare them with Newton's Method for approximating roots. |
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Sums of Powers of Positive IntegersA history of attempts to develop formulas expressing the sums of powers of the first n positive integers from the Pythagoreans to Jakob Bernoulli. |
Investigating Euler's Polyhedral Formula Using Original SourcesThe author shows how teachers can use Leonhard Euler's original works in the classroom to explore the polyhedral formula and related results. |
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