MA 2500 - History of Mathematics

Institution:

SUNY College at Old Westbury

Subject:

Mathematics

Description:

The course is a survey of the history of mathematics from the beginnings through the 19th Century. Special attention will be given to the interactions between culture and mathematics with emphasis on topics germane to the high-school curriculum. Students will examine each mathematical development in the context of the culture in which it arose. The students will learn that, although the truths of mathematics are necessary, their discovery is both an individual endeavor and a cultural enterprise. . The following topics will be covered: 1). Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Hellenistic mathematics, Non-European mathematics during the "dark ages". 2).Indian subcontinent, China, the Middle East, Mesoamerica. 3). early renaissance mathematics: Fibonacci, the Treviso arithmetic, bookkeeping, Renaissance geometry. 4). The birth of calculus: Descartes, Fermat, Leibnitz, and Newton. 5). The flowering of culculus: Euler, the Bernouilli brothers. 6). The origin of modern concepts of function (Fourier, Cauchy) and of number (Cantor). 7) The social and global implications of science and technology, and the impact of science, culture, and society on one another. . The NCATE/NCTM requires History of Mathematics. . The course satisfies components of General Education in the area of major culture and history. We are submitting this course for approval by the General Education and by the Teacher Education Department in the domain of Major Culture, History of Art History. . This course stresses "the social and global implications of science and technology, and the impact of science, culture, and society on one another". This course will examine each mathematical development in the context of the culture in which it arose from, so the students will learn that, although the truths of mathematics are necessary, their discovery is both an individual endeavor and a cultural enterprise.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.oldwestbury.edu

Phone Number:

(516) 876-3000

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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