Re: [HM] History of Mathematics: to whom?
Karen Dee Michalowicz (KarenDM@aol.com)
Wed, 14 Apr 1999 23:07:45 EDT
I've read this discussion with interest also. Not being in a "lofty"
academic position as many of you, but responsible for the students you get
in the university, I realize after 36 years that math history does more to
inspire students than anything else I do. And, I'm a darn good mathematics
teacher! I can teach algebra to high school students. Yet, they savour the
subject when I talk about AlKorizmi or Hypatia. They remember the class when
I tell stories about Decartes. Geometry is not the same without background
about Euclid and the origins of non-Euclidian Geometry.
Of course, my discourse is not on the level of a undergraduate or graduate
mathematics course. But it is factual; it is interesting; and it is
inspiring. In recent years my student who received a silver medal, then a
gold medal in the International Mathematics Olympiads when asked what
inspired him to university work in mathematics, he replied that Mrs.
Michalowicz and her mathematics history stories.
No one should be deprived of the beauty of mathematics history just because
his/her level of mathematics understanding is not sophisticated.
Cheers!
Karen Dee Michalowicz