Catalog
course description
- A historical study of the growth of the various fields of mathematics.
Time Line :
- PlagiarismTest
- Email Etiquette for Students
- Important historical names, dates, and events: Overview
- Mathematical Periods
- MTM: An overview of the history of mathematics
- Math
Autobiography
- Sketch#1
Group Work Ancient Numerals: - MTM:
* An overview of Babylonian mathematics
* An overview of Egyptian mathematics - Paper 1
- Writing exercises from OWL:Numbers
- SOCRATIC CIRCLE
- Weekly Socratic circle: Participation
evaluations forms
- Early Greek mathematics
- Writing exercises from OWL: Eliminating
Wordiness#1
- Group-work(IN CLASS): Eliminating Wordiness
-
Introductions
- Pythagora practice
problems
- Euclid
- B&G: Sketch 12 (p 139-146)
- Comma Quick Rules
- Midterm Evaluations
- Paper 2
- Structure
of essay( to be used for draft of Paper 2)
- CH 4
- B&G: Sketch 7 (p 107-110)
- Archimedes Cattle Problem
- D: Chapter 5
- An overview of Arabic mathematics
- B&G: Sketch 10
- Italian Renaissance:D: Chapter 6
- B&G: Sketch 11
- Paper 3 gudelines
- Paper Grading Rubric.
- Isaac Newton D: Chapter 7
- **Present a mathematician (Oct 30 if time)
- Newton, Leibniz, and the Bernoulli's Ch 8
- Calculus Overview
- Guidelines
for Peer Review: Mandatory for all students
- Euler and his legacy D:Chapter 9 (p 207-222) and Chapter10(p223-235)
- Cantor D: Chapter 11 (p 245-266)
B&G: Sketch 25 (p 237-242) D: Chapter 12 (p 267-283) - Peer review
- Presentations
- Final paper
- Extra help:
- Uconn Writing Center: All UConn students are invited to visit the University Writing Center for individualized tutorials. The Writing Center staff includes talented and welcoming graduate and undergraduate students from across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. They work with writers at any stage of the writing process, from exploring ideas to polishing final drafts. Their first priority is guiding each student's revisions, so they frequently provide a sounding board for a writer's ideas, arguments, analytical moves, and uses of evidence. They can also work with you on sentence-level concerns, but please note that they will not proofread for you; instead, they will help you become a better editor of your own work. You should come with a copy of the assignment you are working on, a current draft (or notes if you are not yet at the draft stage), and ideas about what you want out of a session. Tutorials run 45 minutes and are free. You can drop in or make an appointment.
- Academic Integrity In this course we aim to conduct ourselves as a community of scholars, recognizing that academic study is both an intellectual and ethical enterprise. You are encouraged to build on the ideas and texts of others; that is a vital part of academic life. You are also obligated to document every occasion when you use another’s ideas, language, or syntax. You are encouraged to study together, discuss readings outside of class, share your drafts during peer review and outside of class, and go to the Writing Center with your drafts. In this course, those activities are well within the bounds of academic honesty. However, when you use another’s ideas or language—whether through direct quotation, summary, or paraphrase—you must formally acknowledge that debt by signaling it with a standard form of academic citation. Even one occasion of academic dishonesty, large or small, on any assignment, large or small, will result in failure for the entire course and referral to Student Judicial Affairs. For University policies on academic honesty, please see UConn’s Responsibilities of Community Life: The Student Code and the Office of Community Standards: http://www.community.uconn.edu
- Students With
Disabilities
Students who think that they may need accommodations because of a disability are encouraged to meet with me privately early in the semester. Students should also contact the Center for Students with Disabilities as soon as possible to verify their eligibility for reasonable accommodations. For more information, please go to http://www.csd.uconn.edu/.
- Counseling and Mental Health Services http://www.cmhs.uconn.edu/
- Career Services http://www.career.uconn.edu/
- Alcohol and Other Drug Services http://www.aod.uconn.edu/
- Dean of Students Office 486-3426
-
About Writing:
- APA citation style from Cornell
- general APA style http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/DocAPA.html from the University of Wisconsin (note that the only APA formatting you must apply is the citation style; you don't need to worry about formatting headings as APA requires, for instance)
- Evaluationg sourses:
- the CSRS checklist from Univ. of Cape Town http://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/infolit/cars.htm


According to university-wide policies for W courses, you cannot pass this courseunless you receive a passing grade for its writing components.
FINAL PAPER DUE: Dec15 Time:9:00-12:00 in MSB 127 (in my office: please submit a .PDF file by email, and your paper folder-hard copy in my office)
Text book
Please purchase the two main textbooks (available new
at UCONN Bookstore and, both new and used, at
amazon.com)
- Journey
through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics
by William Dunham
- Math
through the Ages: A Gentle History for Teachers
and Others (expanded edition) by William P.
Berlinghoff and Fernando Q. Gouvêa
In addition, we will use the following online resource (browse to become familiar with the many biographies and mathematics topics available at this website):
- The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archives (University of St Andrews)
- Updates to the syllabus, as well as information, updates, and links to reading and homework assignments, will be posted on a weekly basis as we progress through the course. Please check the course's website on a weekly basis.
Grading Policy
The course grade will be determined as follows:
- Individual and Group-Work Assignments,Class Participation, Socratic Circle Evaluations: 25%
- Paper 1 (3 pages): 20%
- Paper 2 (5 pages): 25%
- Paper 3 (7 pages): 30%
The final version of each paper will be graded using
the following grading scheme: content (writing
style, depth and elaboration of points, evidence of
supporting research), argument (focus and
organization), mechanics (correct grammar).
For details see the Paper Grading Rubric.
For details see the Paper
Grading Rubric.
According to UCONN policies for W courses, you cannot
pass this course unless you receive a passing grade
for its writing component (papers 1, 2, and 3).
UCONN policies for W courses require that the combined
lengths of the three papers (papers 1, 2 and 3),
excluding bibliography, is at least 15 pages. Page
length assumes a 12-point Times New Roman font,
double-spaced, 1" margin page. There are about 250
words per page. Since typing-software affect page
length, please use word count when calculating the
length of your paper.
NO LATE SUBMISSIONS of proposals, drafts,
or final versions of papers 1, 2 and 3 are accepted,
unless there is a serious emergency for which you
provide proof. Paper 3 is considered to be the final
exam for this course and as such rescheduling its
submission needs approval from UCONN's Dean of
Students Office, see UCONN
Final Exam Policy.
The Papers (1, 2 and 3)
Consult these links before starting to work on your
first writing assignment.
- Citation Style: APA citation style (Cornell University)
- Free Bibliography Generator (APA, MLA, and
other styles): EasyBib.com
- Evaluating reliability of printed and online sources: CRAAP test (California State University, Chico)
- How to recognize plagiarism: Tutorial and test (Indiana University)
- Online Writing Lab: Owl (Purdue University)
Paper Schedule |
Paper Guidelines (an active link to each paper guidelines will appear in the week before each paper is assigned) |
Paper 1 Draft and Draft Cover Letter due: September 10 Final Version and Final Version Cover Letter due:Sept |
Paper
1 Guidelines Draft Cover Letter Template (Word file) Final Version Cover Letter Template (Word file) |
Paper 2 Proposal due: September 29 Draft and Draft Cover Letter due: October 15 Final Version and Final Version Cover Letter due: October 23 |
Paper
2 Guidelines Draft Cover Letter Template (Word file) Final Version Cover Letter Template (Word file) |
Paper 3 Proposal due: Draft and Draft Cover Letter due: Final Version and Final Version Cover Letter due: |
Paper
3 Guidelines Draft Cover Letter Template (Word file) Final Version Cover Letter Template (Word file) Guidelines for Peer Review Peer Review Template (Word file) |
Individual and Group-Work Assignments
Small individual or group-work assignments, aimed at practicing mathematical concepts and writing techniques, will be given almost every week. Some of the assignments will be worked at during class-time; others will be given as homework. In all cases, assignments are due the Friday after they were assigned. Each week's assignment will be graded on a scale of 0 to 10 (divided among the various components). For group-works: the group will submit one completed assignment and each member of the group will receive the grade awarded for this joint submission. Most group-works will be started in class, and absent students will not be able to receive credit for the group-work they missed, unless there is a serious reason for their absence.
Course outline
Notes: * Below we will denote by: D = Journey
through Genius by W. Dunham, B&G = Math
through the Ages by W. P. Berlinghoff and F. Q. Gouvêa, MTM = The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archives.
Week 1:Introduction Aug 31 Overviews of the history of mathematics * The history of numerals * The history of zero * PlagiarismTest * Math Autobiography |
Handouts: * Important historical names, dates, and events * Mathematical Periods MTM: An overview of the history of mathematics B&G: Sketch 1(p 65-70), Sketch 3 (p 79-82) |
|
Week
2: Arithmetic Sept 7 * Babylonian mathematics * Egyptian mathematics Draft Paper 1 Due |
MTM:
* An overview of Babylonian mathematics * An overview of Egyptian mathematics |
No
class: Mon. Sept 7 Labor Day |
Week
3: Geometry:Early
Greek mathematics (Thales, Pythagoras, etc.) * Pythagora practice problems Sept 14 |
D:
Chapter 1 (p 1-11) D: Chapter 2 (p 27- 60, you may skip the proof of propositions I.15, I.16, I.26, I.27, I.32, I.41 and Theorem AAA) |
|
Week
4: Euclid: Sept 21 Euclid's Elements: Geometry * Euclid's Elements: Number theory Final version: Paper 1 Due |
D:
Chapter 3 (p 68-75 and 81-83) Comma quick rules B&G: Sketch 12 (p 139-146) |
|
Week
5: Archimedes Sept 28 * Archimedes and the circular area * Euclid's Elements: Geometry Non-Euclidean geometries Proposal Paper 2 Due |
D: Chapter 4 (p
84-112) * Archimedes Cattle Problem (Not required. Read for fun!) B&G: Sketch 19 (p 193-198) (if time) |
|
Week
6 Greek mathematics after
Archimedes oct 5 * The history of π Draft Paper 2 Due |
D: Chapter 5 (p
113-118 and 129-132) B&G: Sketch 7 (p 107-110) |
|
Week 7
Algebra * Arabic mathematics * The cossic art Oct 12 |
MTM: * An overview of Arabic mathematics Sketch 8 (p 113-118)(if time...) * The man who counted by Malba Tahan (recommended, but not required) * Earliest Uses of Various Mathematical Symbols (Not required. Check for fun.) |
|
Week
8 * Italian Renaissance: solutions to cubic and quartic equations Oct 19 Final version: Paper 2 Due |
D: Chapter 6 (p
133-154) B&G: Sketch 10 (p 127-130) B&G: Sketch 11 |
|
Week
9 Oct 26 * Gems from Isaac Newton |
D: Chapter 7 (p
155-174 and 177-183) B&G: Sketch 13 (p147-152) |
|
Week
10 Nov 2 * Calculus: Newton, Leibniz, and the Bernoullis * Fermat's Last Theorem Proposal: Paper 3 Due |
D:
Chapter 8 (p 184-206) |
|
Week
11 Nov 9 * Euler and his legacy Draft: Paper 3 Due |
D: Chapter 9 (p
207-222) and Chapter 10 (p223-235, you may skip
the proofs) |
|
Week
12 Nov 16 * Cantor and the challenge of the infinite * Cantor and the transfinite Mandatory Peer Review (in class) |
D: Chapter 11 (p 245-266) B&G: Sketch 25 (p 237-242) D: Chapter 12 (p 267-283) |
|
Thanksgiving Break Week 13 Nov 17-21 Presentations of final papers!!! |
Happy Turkey Day! Relax and have fun! Presentations of final papers!!! |
|
No
classes: Nov23-27 |
||
Week 14 Nov30 Presentations of final papers!!! * A brief look backward and forward * Catch-up and wrap-up |
Presentations of final papers!!! Journal of Mathematics and the Arts: * Poetry Inspired by Mathematics: A brief journey through history *Article on Calculus and advanced Math http://nautil.us/issue/11/light/maths-beautiful-monsters |
|
Final Exam Week Dec14-18 |
FINAL PAPER DUE:
Dec15
Time:9:00-12:00 in MSB
127(my office: please
submit a .PDF file by email, and
your paper folder-hard copy in my
office) |
Final version: Paper 3 FINAL PAPER DUE: |
Use this area to enter an announcement or some news from your area.
Instructor Schedule:
Gageonea, Maria
Section 001 MWF
MSB 319 Time:1:25-2:15
Section 002 TuTh
MSB403
Time:9:30-10:45
Instructor Contact:
Gageonea, Maria
Office: MSB M127 (Storrs)
Phone: (860)486-6452
Office Hours:
MWF 11-12 or by Appt.
Email: maria.gageonea@uconn.edu
Maria Gageonea
Department of Mathematics
196 Auditorium Road
Storrs, CT, 06269-3009
maria.gageonea@uconn.edu
(860)486-3923