We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from Chapter 1 - Papers Covering Several Courses
I am sure that no subject loses more than mathematics by any attempt to disassociate it from its history.
– James Glaishier (1848–1928)Introduction
Glaishier's comment is especially true in mathematics courses beyond calculus. A mathematics course that fails to integrate the history of the subject matter presents the mathematics in skeletal form. While the skeletal structure might be instructive, the real meat and heart of the subject are missing. This paper discusses the role that the history of mathematics can play in courses beyond calculus. It will not discuss a history of mathematics course but rather the integration of historical topics into other mathematics courses.
The first question that one asks is “Why include the history?” We could answer (sarcastically) “Why not?” but that is not an adequate answer. As mentioned above, by seeing the mathematical content without its history students see only a skeletal foundation for the subject. They fail to see some of the motivation for the subject and fail to appreciate the human effort involved. They also do not gain a proper appreciation for the process of mathematical development that has occurred. We all know that most mathematics that we study today went through a metamorphosis over the years. A student seeing this development will gain a greater appreciation for how far the subject has come since its beginnings.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
