Holy Cross Mathematics and Computer Science
MONT 107Q
Thinking about Mathematics
Note: All information on this page is still under development and subject to change.
Syllabus, day-by-day schedule, and CHQ cluster events
-
Course syllabus (.pdf file)
- Detailed course
schedule
- Core Human Questions Cluster Common Events
- Showing of film Pan's Labyrinth, 7:30pm Monday, January 30, Seelos Theater.
- Montserrat cross-cluster public speaking night, Thursday, February 23,
Hogan Campus Center (more details to follow!).
- Field trip to MASS MoCA, Saturday, March 25.
- Performance of ``The Royal Family,'' 8:00pm Thursday, April 6, Fenwick Theater.
- End-of-year cluster banquet, 6:00pm Tuesday May 2, Hogan Ballroom.
Course materials
- Study/discussion questions on All the Pretty Horses. (.pdf file)
- 2015 PISA results -- comparative
achievement in reading, mathematics, science in different countries around the world
- Is the mathematics curriculum used in schools in Finland better?
- Historical background on Old Babylonian mathematics
and a representative table used in calculations.
(for class on 2/8)
- Materials on YBC 6967 (for class on 2/10) -- a drawing of the actual cuneiform tablet with the numbers circled; English translation, and commentary by
Eleanor Robson, from The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A
Sourcebook, Victor J. Katz, ed.
- Greek thinking about commensurability, magnitude, number
(for class on 2/15)
- Euclid, Elements, Book II,
Propositions 1-5 and some comments
(for class on 2/17)
- Materials on Diophantos of Alexandria
and the Arithmetica for classes 2/24 -- 3/3
- Study/discussion questions on The Metamorphoses of Ovid
- Some art inspired by Ovid
- Overview on mathematics in the medieval Islamic world (For class 3/20)
- The Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala of Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, translated into Latin by Robert of Chester (12th century CE) -- note his version of the title(!), with English re-translation on facing pages (from www.wilbourhall.org). (For classes 3/20 - 3/27)
- A case study on Islamic mathematics (For class 3/27)
- Viète's Analytical Art (For classes 4/3 - 4/7)
- Pappus of Alexandria (ca. 320 CE) on analysis and synthesis
in geometry (For class 4/10)
- Facts about circles from elementary geometry (For class 4/10)
- Why is algebra hard?
- Book I of Descartes' La Géométrie (For classes 4/19 and 21)
Assignments
- First essay assignment, due: no later than 5:00pm on Monday,
February 6. Modified Monday, January 30: Note that you may now also write on a topic of your own choice.
- Discussion on YBC 7289 -- writeups due: no later than 5:00pm on Feb. 15.
- Problem Set 1 on Babylonian mathematics, due: no later than 5:00pm on Feb. 27.
- Discussion on Diophantus, Arithmetica, in class March 1.
- Problem Set 2 on Diophantus, due: no later than 5:00pm on March 13.
- Information, schedule, and ideas for topics for the final project.
- Second writing assignment on Ovid, due: no later than 5:00pm
on Monday, March 20.
- Problem Set 3 on Al-Khwarizmi, due: no later than 5:00pm on March 27.
- Problem Set 4 on Viète, due: no later than 5:00pm on April 10.
- Discussion on Descartes' ``analytic geometry,'' due: no later than
5:00pm on April 24.
Information and announcements
- Each final project group will be meeting with Prof. Little between April 10 and April 21
to discuss their progress on the final project.
Other Related Items
Downloading Information
The links for assignments and other handouts shown above with the notation
(.pdf file) lead to documents in PDF format. To read and print these, you
will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. This
is available at no cost from Adobe.
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Last modified: April 13, 2017
