[HM] What is good math history?

Phill Schultz (schultz@maths.uwa.edu.au)
Thu, 1 Oct 1998 08:50:27 +0800

I totally disagree with your unnamed correspondent. From a pedagogical
viewpoint we must present an unvarnished, warts-and-all picture of
mathematical developments, tailored of course to our audience. That way
they will gain a deeper understanding of the psychology of mathematical
advances and realise that mathematics is after all a human endeavour.

The issue of 'not enough time' is a furphy. Of course there is no time to
do everything you would like, the point is to present what is most
compelling in the available time.

misguided tracks. Some examples that leap to mind are the developments in
graph theory directly caused by Kempe's mistake with the 4-colour theorem,
the developments in geometry and topology due to Euler's flawed proof of
the Euler characteristic and Robinson's study of Leibniz's infiniteasimals
leading to enormous advances in Model Theory.

______________________________________________________________________________

Associate Professor Phill Schultz
Director of Postgraduate Studies,
Department of Mathematics,
The University of Western Australia,
Nedlands, 6907, Australia

Phone:(08)9380-3381 Fax:(08)9380-1028
e-mail schultz@maths.uwa.edu.au
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