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In November 2000, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) published a focus issue of their journal, Mathematics Teacher, dedicated to mathematics history. The journal, written for secondary teachers, featured articles and activities by some very credible mathematics historians. Some of the authors are Shai Simonson writing on the mathematics of Levi ben Gershon; S.I.B. Gray writing about the mathematics in the Age of Jane Austin; Patricia Wilson on strategies for using mathematics history; Dane Camp on Mandelbrot; and Lawrence Shirley writing about using costumes in the classroom. Other articles are on Kepler and Wiles, Felix Klein, and John Napier.
The beauty about this publication is that it is very usable by the secondary teacher. Unlike many scholarly publications that give us a picture of the mathematics of a certain era or of a certain mathematician, this journal helps the teacher see how the information can be used in the classroom.
As a collector of old and rare books I was particularly interested in the Gray’s discussion of the content in British texts in the early l800’s. She details problems in early 19th century British texts that not only give the reader a cultural, historical and sociological view of the times, but also give students the opportunity to see different algorithms. The problems are fun!
In the journal one can also find some web sites where resources and activities in the history of mathematics can be located. In addition there is detailed the Historical Modules Project co-directed by Victor Katz and Karen Michalowicz where modules for the secondary mathematics classroom using the history of mathematics are being developed.
The only caveat I give is about the resources recommended in the article, Sharing Teaching Ideas. If I remember correctly the original set of Walch posters of Great Mathematicians referenced by the authors included one woman, Hypatia. To use the set, I had to make my own additional posters of women. Even though the authors provide a list of mathematicians including more women, three of the better known women mathematicians, Maria Gatena Agnesi, Mary Somerville and Ada Lovelace are noticeably absent. Conspicuously, the list of pre 20th century mathematicians lists one twentieth century mathematician, a woman, Mary Lucy Cartwright. It fails to list another woman, one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century Emmy Noether.
This journal is valuable across cultures and countries. A look at the journal’s contents and a reading of Lawrence Shirley’s article can be found at http://www.nctm.org/mt/2000/11/index.html.
Photocopies of individual articles are available at $4.00 per title from
NCTM, Publications Department, 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA
20191-9988.
Please add $3.00 for shipping if the order is less than $50.00
and $7.00 if the order totals more than $50.00.
This book was launched at ICME-9 in Tokyo in August 2000 with great enthusiasm and vigour by the co-editor Jan van Maanen. It is the culmination of many years’ work by over 80 worldwide enthusiastic historians of mathematics. The Executive Committee of ICMI ordered the study at ICME-8 in Seville. Firstly there was a discussion document of 12 questions for research in the spring of 1997. This was followed by a one-week study conference in France in April 1998, attended by over 70 people. The writing, editing and revising was completed during 1999 and the book was released towards the end of 2000. The intended audience was for "teachers, mathematics educators, decision-makers and concerned parents across the world".
The 11 chapters cover a diverse set of aspects, from current usage of the history of mathematics in national school curricula, through teacher-training to resources on the worldwide web. They contain fascinating accounts of people's experiences in other countries, affording valuable additions to the reader's armoury of current historical teaching ideas. There are good discussion points from the international contributors, such as, should we talk about Pythagoras’ theorem, or should it be Gou Gu’s theorem? Pascal’s Triangle or Yang Hui’s triangle? Cavalieri’s Principle or the Zu Geng Principle?
There are recurrent themes. These are that the History of Mathematics
While an ICMI Study can appear daunting to the average individual, I found this book to be a very pleasant surprise, in that it was fascinating and I was unable to put it down. It certainly appears to be of value to all of its intended audience and I warmly recommend it to everyone, certainly as being worthy of its place on the library bookshelf of every institution worldwide where mathematics is taught.
Jenny Ramsden, Wycombe Abbey SchoolThis section contains references to books or articles that may be of interest to all those concerned with the history of mathematics. Please send details with complete bibliographic information to the editor for inclusion in future issues.
If you are looking for some History of Mathematics input for young people to read and research for themselves, there is surprisingly little on the library bookshelf that looks inviting to a young audience. Why not direct them to the SYMmetryplus magazine? Published by The Mathematical Association (UK) three times a year, its pages include puzzles, articles on mathematical themes such as knots, logic problems, codes and board games from around the world. Each issue also contains a biography of a famous mathematician and a complementary article about an aspect of his/her work. The magazine is aimed at young mathematicians from age 10 to 18 years and there is plenty of material contained within its 16 brightly coloured pages to stretch and tantalise everyone (teachers and parents included). Further details can be obtained from The Mathematical Association, 259 London Road, Leicester LE2 3BE, UK or via their website at www.m-a.org.uk
Jenny Ramsden, Wycombe Abbey School
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