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Garrett Eastman

Heavenly Mathematics: The Forgotten Art of Spherical Trigonometry - 2 views

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    Published 2012. "Spherical trigonometry was at the heart of astronomy and ocean-going navigation for two millennia. The discipline was a mainstay of mathematics education for centuries, and it was a standard subject in high schools until the 1950s. Today, however, it is rarely taught. Heavenly Mathematics traces the rich history of this forgotten art, revealing how the cultures of classical Greece, medieval Islam, and the modern West used spherical trigonometry to chart the heavens and the Earth. Glen Van Brummelen explores this exquisite branch of mathematics and its role in ancient astronomy, geography, and cartography; Islamic religious rituals; celestial navigation; polyhedra; stereographic projection; and more. He conveys the sheer beauty of spherical trigonometry, providing readers with a new appreciation for its elegant proofs and often surprising conclusions. Heavenly Mathematics is illustrated throughout with stunning historical images and informative drawings and diagrams that have been used to teach the subject in the past. This unique compendium also features easy-to-use appendixes as well as exercises at the end of each chapter that originally appeared in textbooks from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries."
Garrett Eastman

MacTutor History of Mathematics - 8 views

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    Archive from the School of Mathematics and Statistics at University of St. Andrews Scotland features biographies of famous mathematicians, historical topics in mathematics, and "mathematicians of the day"
Garrett Eastman

Empowering Science and Mathematics Education in Urban Schools - Angela Calabr... - 4 views

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    Published by University of Chicago Press, July 2012. "Math and science hold powerful places in contemporary society, setting the foundations for entry into some of the most robust and highest-paying industries. However, effective math and science education is not equally available to all students, with some of the poorest students-those who would benefit most-going egregiously underserved. This ongoing problem with education highlights one of the core causes of the widening class gap. While this educational inequality can be attributed to a number of economic and political causes, in Empowering Science and Mathematics Education in Urban Communities, Angela Calabrese Barton and Edna Tan demonstrate that it is augmented by a consistent failure to integrate student history, culture, and social needs into the core curriculum. They argue that teachers and schools should create hybrid third spaces-neither classroom nor home-in which underserved students can merge their personal worlds with those of math and science. A host of examples buttress this argument: schools where these spaces have been instituted now provide students not only an immediate motivation to engage the subjects most critical to their future livelihoods but also the broader math and science literacy necessary for robust societal engagement. A unique look at a frustratingly understudied subject, Empowering Science and Mathematics Education pushes beyond the idea of teaching for social justice and into larger questions of how and why students participate in math and science. " Excerpts in Google Books
Garrett Eastman

Mathematics Emerging: A Sourcebook 1540 - 1900, Jacqueline Stedall - 4 views

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    "This book is designed to provide mathematics undergraduates with some historical background to the material that is now taught universally to students in their final years at school and the first years at college or university: the core subjects of calculus, analysis, and abstract algebra, along with others such as mechanics, probability, and number theory. All of these evolved into their present form in a relatively limited area of western Europe from the mid sixteenth century onwards, and it is there that we find the major writings that relate in a recognizable way to contemporary mathematics."
Garrett Eastman

The Glorious Golden Ratio - 2 views

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    Prometheus Books The Glorious Golden Ratio [978-1-61614-423-4] - "For centuries, mathematicians, scientists, artists, and architects have been fascinated by a ratio that is ubiquitous in nature and is commonly found across many cultures. It has been called the "Golden Ratio" because of its prevalence as a design element and its seemingly universal esthetic appeal. From the ratio of certain proportions of the human body and the heliacal structure of DNA to the design of ancient Greek statues and temples as well as modern masterpieces, the Golden Ratio is a key pattern that has wide-ranging and perhaps endless applications and manifestations. What exactly is the Golden Ratio? How was it discovered? Where is it found? These questions and more are thoroughly explained in this engaging tour of one of mathematics' most interesting phenomena. With their talent for elucidating mathematical mysteries, veteran educators and prolific mathematics writers Alfred S. Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann begin by tracing the appearance of the Golden Ratio throughout history. They demonstrate a variety of ingenious techniques used to construct it and illustrate the many surprising geometric figures in which the Golden Ratio is embedded. They also point out the intriguing relationship between the Golden Ratio and other famous numbers (such as the Fibonacci numbers, Pythagorean triples, and others). They then explore its prevalence in nature as well as in architecture, art, literature, and technology. "
MariaDroujkova

mathfuture - HyperbolicGuitarsCourse - 2 views

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    LOG IN January 24th 9pm ET: http://tinyurl.com/MathFutureEvent Music and mathematics have been linked together for thousands of years, but rarely have students had the opportunity to explore the many connections that exist between them. To try to fill this gap, Mike Thayer of Hyperbolic Guitars is developing a course. At the event, we will discuss the course outline, as well as math and music links in general. All events in the Math Future weekly series: http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/events The recording will be at http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/HyperbolicGuitarsCourse Event challenge! Help Mike find a resource - a web page, a video, a music piece - to go with one of the topics in the course outline. Full syllabus and details of the outline: http://hyperbolicguitars.wikispaces.com/Math+%26+Music+Course Major topics: What is sound, anyway? The physics of waves The mathematics of waves Resonance Elasticity The generation of sound by "simple" systems The vibrating string The vibrating rod The vibrating plate (e.g., drumhead or cymbal) Open and closed pipes The Helmholtz resonator (--> the vocal chords) White noise, pink noise The concept of "timbre" The perception of sound Human listeners Other "listeners": Digital recording The interaction between the generator and the listener: the science of acoustics What makes sound become music? What does a listener "listen for" in music? Basics of music and musical notation: Musical descriptions Basics of music: Psycho-physical (auditory) descriptions What makes sound "musical" (
Garrett Eastman

Hahn, A.: Mathematical Excursions to the World's Great Buildings. - 4 views

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    Forthcoming June 2012: "From the pyramids and the Parthenon to the Sydney Opera House and the Bilbao Guggenheim, this book takes readers on an eye-opening tour of the mathematics behind some of the world's most spectacular buildings. Beautifully illustrated, the book explores the milestones in elementary mathematics that enliven the understanding of these buildings and combines this with an in-depth look at their aesthetics, history, and structure."
Garrett Eastman

Wardhaugh, B., ed.: A Wealth of Numbers: An Anthology of 500 Years of Popular Mathemati... - 4 views

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    "Despite what we may sometimes imagine, popular mathematics writing didn't begin with Martin Gardner. In fact, it has a rich tradition stretching back hundreds of years. This entertaining and enlightening anthology--the first of its kind--gathers nearly one hundred fascinating selections from the past 500 years of popular math writing, bringing to life a little-known side of math history."
Garrett Eastman

Mathematicians say magnetic fields can send particles to infinity | R&D Mag - 1 views

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    "Researchers in Spain have recently proved, mathematically, that particles charged in a magnetic field can escape into infinity without ever stopping. When this happens, under a certain set of conditions, particles will either never stop, as in a loop, or actually escape the limits of a spherical surface, no matter how big the surface may be."
Garrett Eastman

Mathematical Expeditions: Exploring Word Problems across the Ages - 7 views

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    "Mathematical Expeditions is a collection of over 500 culturally and historically diverse mathematical problems carefully chosen to enrich mathematics teaching from middle school through the college level." Forthcoming June 2012.
Garrett Eastman

Doxiadis, A. and Mazur, B., eds.: Circles Disturbed: The Interplay of Mathematics and N... - 3 views

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    Published 2012 "Circles Disturbed brings together important thinkers in mathematics, history, and philosophy to explore the relationship between mathematics and narrative. The book's title recalls the last words of the great Greek mathematician Archimedes before he was slain by a Roman soldier--"Don't disturb my circles"--words that seem to refer to two radically different concerns: that of the practical person living in the concrete world of reality, and that of the theoretician lost in a world of abstraction."
Garrett Eastman

BBC - Podcasts - A Brief History of Mathematics - 17 views

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    A 10 part series by Professor Marcus du Satuoy, University of Oxford, "argues that mathematics is the driving force behind modern science. Ten fifteen minute podcasts that reveal the personalities behind the calculations from Newton to the present day. How do these masters of abstraction find a role in the real world?"
Garrett Eastman

Fascinating Mathematical People: Interviews and Memoirs. - 1 views

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    "Fascinating Mathematical People is a collection of informal interviews and memoirs of sixteen prominent members of the mathematical community of the twentieth century, many still active. The candid portraits collected here demonstrate that while these men and women vary widely in terms of their backgrounds, life stories, and worldviews, they all share a deep and abiding sense of wonder about mathematics."
Garrett Eastman

Roads to Infinity: The Mathematics of Truth and Proof - 10 views

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    2010 book considering "implications of infinity ... for mathematics," also mathematical logic and set theory
Garrett Eastman

African Mathematics (University Press of America) - 4 views

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    A publisher of academic and scholarly monographs in the humanities and social sciences, including African Studies, American History, American Literature, Anthropology/Archaeology, Art History, Asian Studies, Biblical Studies, Catholicism, Classics, Communications, Criminology, Drama, East European/Slavic Studies, Eastern Religion, Economic Development, Economics, Education, Ethics, European History, Foreign Languages, Gender/Women's Studies, Geography/Environment, Higher Education, Hispanic/Latin American Studies, International Studies, Judaic Studies, Labor Studies, Legal Studies, Linguistics, Literature, Middle Eastern Studies, Military Studies, Minorities in Education, Minorities in Politics, Minority Studies, Organizations and Leadership, Peace/Conflict Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Public Health, Religious Studies, Research in Education/Social Sciences, Sociology, Urban Studies, US Public Policy, World History
Garrett Eastman

Encyclopedia of Mathematics and Society - 14 views

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    How mathematics affects our daily lives in sociological, economic, and historical perspectives. Three volume set, 490 articles, published in October 2011
Garrett Eastman

NMAH | Mobilizing Minds: Teaching Math and Science in the Age of Sputnik - Introduction - 5 views

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    An exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, including the topics: "Teaching Mathematics and Science in the Home" and "Techniques of Learning"
Garrett Eastman

Emmy Noether, the Most Significant Mathematician You've Never Heard Of - 11 views

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    "Albert Einstein called her the most "significant" and "creative" female mathematician of all time, and others of her contemporaries were inclined to drop the modification by sex. She invented a theorem that united with magisterial concision two conceptual pillars of physics: symmetry in nature and the universal laws of conservation."
Garrett Eastman

Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World | Amir Alexa... - 3 views

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    Published in 2014, tells the story of how, in the seventeenth century, Italian Jesuit authorities evidently tried to suppress the idea of infinitesimals in mathematics and how subsequently their flourishing led to the development of calculus and shifted the balance of world culture and the influence of nations.
Garrett Eastman

Does infinity exist? - 4 views

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    Text from an interview with John H. Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge, discussing history of cultural understanding of infinity, as well as different understandings of infinity - mathematical, physical, cosmological
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