Historical Topics for the Mathematics Classroom

Historical Topics for the Mathematics Classroom
J.K. Baumgart, D.E. Deal, B.R. Vogeli, A.E. Hallerberg (eds.)

This book is a wonderful resource for teachers of Mathematics. It is an easily read and absorbing overview of the history of mathematics with suggestions for its use in the classroom. The history of each major branch of mathematics (Number, Computation, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and Calculus) is individually summarized and followed by brief essays on specific topics of significance within each branch. This organization makes it easy to find and quickly read the informative articles on any chosen topic. The writing style and reading levels of most articles also make them available to high school students.

The last chapter of the book presents an overview of the development of modern mathematics originating in the nineteenth century and a perspective on contemporary mathematics as a science of patterns. This chapter gives a brief, integrated view of the direction of mathematics development over the last century. Again, the treatment is very easy to read and very informative for teachers and more advanced students. Finally an Appendix that discusses other resources and a bibliography aid the teacher to include historical topics in teaching mathematics.