In mathematics education today, it is considered of primary concern to
involve along with the mathematics a history of this mathematics. This will
enable the student of whatever age to gain a deeper insight and understanding
and "real" knowledge. This timeline has been constructed to provide
just such a basis. This page is a "link" to the past.
The timeline has been divided into two different outlines:
one shows the evolution of the subject areas -- geometry and algebra; the
other shows an integration of these with world events. This will benefit
me most in my classroom because I need a running integrated timeline for
reference, but I will also use the subject area timeline for topics relative
to specific classes. At least, I think I will help lighten my load of research
to be organized in a couple of different ways. Depending on your specific
need, you may choose either of these outlines as a starting point. But,
many of the links are the same. For instance, if there is a link in algebra
to "Hix," and a link in geometry to "Hix," these two
links will take you to the same page. This person just has contributions
which are included in two of my outlines.
I intend to involve my students not only in the resource
this timeline provides, but also in the additions to it. For instance, I
do not have a "trigonometry" page. When I teach this course, I
will have my students do some research into how we can add this and what
should be included. I will also periodically have them do research on mathematicians
or particular works which are not included here. Then we can add to the
timeline. This will be a great experience for them to feel "published"
in a sense. The opportunities are endless... We can have a contest each
year to see which ONE student gets to add an entire page--sort of a mathematics
"Hall of Fame."
Outline of the evolution
of particular subjects
Outline of important events through history
Return to Sherry's class page
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BURTON, DAVID Burton's History of Mathematics: An Introduction..
Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1991.
EVES, HOWARD An Introduction to the History of Mathematics. Fort
Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1992.
SMITH, D.E. History of Mathematics. New York: Dover Publications,
Inc., 1953.