Course module - HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS
Code : HSTM20482 Credit rating: 10 Semester : 2
Links in this page :
Aims |
Objectives |
Assessment |
Information
|
Course Content |
Course Materials |
Tutors |
Timetable |
Teaching Methods |
Keywords
Aims
The aims of the course are to examine the development of mathematics as part of wider culture, from Ancient Greece (and even earlier) to the twentieth century. The objectives of the course are that students should achieve a thorough understanding of how mathematics has always formed part of a wider culture, and a historical grasp of how the mathematics and culture have interacted.
Objectives (Learning Outcomes)
By the end of this Unit, a student taking the 10 credit version will be able:
• to show an appreciation of various approaches and methods in the history of mathematics;
• to demonstrate a knowledge of the main developments in the history of mathematics;
• to have a critical appreciation of the place of mathematics in wider culture;
• to take part in informed discussions on these topics and issues;
• to reflect critically on the possibilities and limits mathematical thinking.
Assessment
10 credits - essay (50%); exam (50%)
This course is also available as a 20 credit version (HSTM20982)
Information
This is a Level 2/3 course
Prerequisites: A level Mathematics
Course Content
Lecture Content
• Ancient Babylonian and Egyptian Mathematics
• China/India
• Islam
• Renaissance Perspective, algebrae and methods
• 17th Century: Geometry, instruments, Galileo, Dee, calculus
• Analysis and Algebra in the 18th and 19th centuries
• Probability and statistics
• Non-Euclidian Geometry
• Crisis in Foundations
• Mathematical Physics
• Hardy v Hogben
• Ethnomathematics
Course Materials
Tutor(s)
Kennedy, Dr J
Timetable
lecture on Thursdays 10-11 and a seminar on the same day, 3-4pm,
TEACHING TAKING PLACE IN ALAN TURING G207
Please check
Teaching Methods
lecture on Thursdays 10-11 in Alan Turing Bldg, G108
and a seminar on the same day, 3-4pm, in Zochonis Theatre C
www.manchester.ac.uk/chstm
Preliminary reading
There is no single textbook for the course, but the following provide a useful introduction to some of the themes of the course.
John Fauvel and Jeremy Gray (eds), The History of Mathematics: a Reader, London: Macmillan, 1987.
Ivor Grattan-Guinness, The Fontana History of the Mathematical Sciences, London: Fontana, 1997.
Victor Katz, A History of Mathematics: an Introduction, New York: Addison Wesley, 1998
Keywords
history mathematics maths algebrae geometry
Galileo calculus physics