Student Work and Grades:
You will be graded on the following scheme:

Highlights:
We will explore Chapters 1-8 in Eves. This is a seminar course. Therefore we will all be responsible for leading class discussions, solving problems together, and raising interesting questions for further investigation. It is imperative then that everyone come to class all the time, and come prepared. You should do the readings carefully, examine the problems at the end of each chapter, and formulate questions to raise with each other in class. In class we will discuss the readings, formulate questions for further investigation, and solve selected problems. These are all essential components of your learning in this course.

Timeline. We will be constructing an electronic timeline. You are responsible for submitting an  entry every Friday by 5 p.m. for inclusion on the timeline. Your submission should consider the mathematicians themselves and the type of mathematics being produced. Use several references and be sure to document your sources.

Problem Write-ups. Every two chapters you are to submit well crafted solutions to your choice of 5 exploratory problems. We will work on many more than 5 problems in class, so this means that the quality of your writing is as important as getting the correct result.

Midterm Papers. Your first paper will be due on September 30 and is to be a biography of a mathematician of your choice. Your second paper will be due on November 2 and can explore any aspect of historical mathematics. Think of this as a warm-up for your final project.

Project.  You  must complete and present a final project. I will be extremely flexible as to what your project might be, however it should be quite distinct from other means of assessment in this course (i.e. problem sets, timeline, etc.) Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:

A visualization or construction of something in mathematics which may arise from your readings or the problem studies.

A poster presentation of the development of an interesting and important mathematical concept or the historical approach to a class of  problems.

A written lesson on how to use a piece of history in the secondary classroom (e.g. solutions to cubic equations, the concept of infinity, methods to calculate volume, etc.).