Mathematics Commons^™

Applied Mathematics As Social Contract, Philip J. Davis

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

The author takes the position that mathematical education must redefine its goals so as to create a citizenry with sufficient knowledge to provide social backpressure on future mathematizations. This can be accomplished by increasing the part of mathematical education that is devoted to the description and interpretation of the processes of mathematization and by allowing the technicalities of the formal operations within mathematics itself to be deemphasized or automated out by computer.

Mathematical Reflections: Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants, Karl J. Smith

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

The layperson's response to mathematics is often that of desperation. When we tell people our occupation, do we more often than not hear about their unpleasant experiences with mathematics. They often tell us, "I studied algebra in high school and haven't used it since!" Indeed, that may be true. However, we can reply, "How many times has algebra been used on you?" We are all restricted, and protected, by the formulas of mathematics. In the mysterious metaphors we have agreed to cal mathematics, all creation is involved, from the symbol-happy logician down to the cunning geometers, the bees. When I …

Observations On Mathematics And The Christian Faith, W. David Laverell, Carl J. Sinke

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

There is little doubt that mathematicians are becoming more concerned with the foundations on which their discipline rests, the meaning of their work, and the philosophical stance implicit in what they do. This concern is prompted by serious questions which have been raised in recent years, questions dealing with the nature of mathematical truth, the nature of proof, certainty (or lack thereof) in mathematics, and the relationship of mathematics to the physical world. This has been particularly true for those of us involved in teaching since it is apparent that good mathematics education cannot ignore these issures.

Proof And Intution, Michael Detlefsen

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

This paper discusses various perspectives on proof and intuition by examing two epistemic systems, Intuition Intensive and Logic Intensive, and Jules Henri Poincaré's objections to the latter.

Logic And Proof For Mathematics: A Twentieth Century Perspective, Calvin Jongsma

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

This talk reports on the author's experience in teaching college mathematics students the basics of logic and proof in preparation for their transitioning to upper-level proof-based mathematics courses, following that up with a philosophical and historical analysis of mathematicians' attitudes toward such a project going back to nineteenth- and twentieth-century developments in logic and foundations (De Morgan, Boole, Frege, Russell, and Hilbert). The natural deduction approach to logic and inference developed in the mid-twentieth century by Jaskowski and Fitch is recommended as a much better focused approach for learning how to do proofs in mathematics. This idea is systematically developed …

Riesz Spaces And Their Applications In Economics, Calvin E. Piston

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

We will examine an economic model of pure exchange and some results concerning different notions of equilibrium. In particular, we will focus on the role played by the theory of Riesz space.

Variations On A Theme, Robert Creighton Buck

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

An autobiographical narration by Robert Creighton Buck, detailing his experiences in the field of mathematics, and the various questions and themes reoccurring in the mathematical sciences.

Another Look At Pick's Theorem, Dale Varberg

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

In this paper, the author discusses his experience building a proof for Pick's Theorem and theorem's history.

An Activist Model Of The Metaphysics Of Mathematics, Christopher Menzel

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

No abstract provided.

Conic Sections In Ip, Richard Laatsch

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

No abstract provided.

3:16 - An Approach To Bible Study, Donald E. Knuth

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

No abstract provided.

Introduction (1987), Paul Zwier

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

A Sixth Conference on Mathematics from a Christian Perspective

Edited by Robert L. Brabenec

Table Of Contents (1987), Association Of Christians In The Mathematical Sciences

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1987

A Sixth Conference on Mathematics from a Christian Perspective

Edited by Robert L. Brabenec

Comparative Instructor Attitudes Toward College Level English And Mathematics Experiences For Gifted High School Students, Bruce Vickers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Samples derived from a mailed questionnaire were compared. The sample represented high school, community college and university instructors of mathematics and English. The Kentucky public schools sampled were equally represented among high school, community colleges and universities. The research indicated that of those instructors sampled a very high percentage (97.7%) feel that those high school students shown to be academically gifted would benefit from a college experience before high school graduation. The attitudes of those instructors sampled indicated that multiple criteria – grades, recommendations, standardized test scores and personal interview – were considered the preferred method of selection (82.5%). The …

Logic And Proof For Mathematicians: A Twentieth Century Perspective, Calvin Jongsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

If there is one aspect of mathematics education that frustrates both students and teachers alike, it has got to be learning how to do valid proofs. Students often feel they really know the mathematics they're studying but that their teachers place some unreasonably stringent demands upon their arguments. Teachers, on the other hand, can't understand where their students get some of the wacky arguments they come up with. They argue in circles, they end up proving a different result from what they claim, they make false statements, they draw invalid inferences - it can be quite exasperating at times! Unfortunately, …

Proof And Intuition, Michael Detlefsen

ACMS Journal 2004

This paper aims to give a clear exposition of two critiques of logicism. The intuitionist, Brouwer, is best known for rejecting the law of the excluded middle (his "special critique.") The paper argues that Brouwer's "general critique" is deeper and more extensive than this. That is, Brouwer is arguing that mathematical knowledge requires a kind of direct mathematical experience, analogous to sensory experience and this cannot be attained simply by linguistic operations independently of experience. It also discusses Poincare's critiques - that there is a huge difference between genuine mathematical insight and an ability to logically manipulate mathematical truths and …

Christianity And Mathematics, Calvin Jongsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Recent decades have witnessed the growth of a rather remarkable phenomenon: Christian mathematicians discussing the integration of their Christian faith with their mathematical work. This cannot be a totally new turn of events; Christian mathematicians have probably always reflected on this issue to some extent. But the increased number of articles and talks dealing with this matter in the past two decades indicates a new current of thought at work, particularly among Evangelical Protestant Christians. Actually, it would be more accurate to put this observation in the plural, for the trend toward relating Christianity and mathematics is not a unified …

George Boole: His Life And Work (Book Review), Calvin Jongsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Reviewed Title: George Boole: His Life and Work by Desmond MacHale. (Profiles of Genius Series, 2.) xiii + 304 pp., illus., bibls., index. Dublin: Boole Press, 1985.

On Universal Tests For The Truth Of World Views: Their Existence And Identifiability, William Buttelmann, Paul Fienberg

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1985

In his book, Christian Apologetics, Norman Geisler proposes a universal test for the truth of world views. We examine this concept and find that it raises serious difficulties. This paper first presents some basic definitions for "world view" and "truth-value of a world view," then studies the concept of a universal test for the truth of world views in light of these definitions. Geisler has proposed what amounts to a universal decision procedure to determine the truth-value of world views. We show that, in the general case, no such universal decision procedure exists. Whether or not such universal tests for …

Selected Bibliography Of Donald Maccrimmon Mackay, Gene B. Chase

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1985

A selected bibliography of Donald MacCrimmon MacKay, including his written works and biographical sources.

The Significance Of Formally Undecidable Propositions For The Use Of Classical Logic In Theological Arguments, Gordon E. Whitney

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1985

No abstract provided.

Faith And Mathematics - A Different Perspective, James E. Mann, Jr.

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1985

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence? - A Christian Appraisal, Donald M. Mackay

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1985

No abstract provided.

Is Rational Thinking The Best Thinking?, Richard Laatsch

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1985

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Mathematical Modeling: When And What To Teach, Frank R. Giordano, Maurice D. Weir

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1985

No abstract provided.

Introduction (1985), Robert Brabenec

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1985

A Fifth Conference on Mathematics from a Christian Perspective

Edited by Robert L. Brabenec, Wheaton College

Table Of Contents (1985), Association Of Christians In The Mathematical Sciences

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1985

A Fifth Conference on Mathematics from a Christian Perspective

Edited by Robert L. Brabenec, Wheaton College

The Changing Concept Of Change: The Derivative From Fermat To Weierstrass, Judith V. Grabiner

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Historically speaking, there were four steps in the development of today's concept of the derivative, which I list here in chronological order. The derivative was first used; it was then discovered; it was then explored and developed; and it was finally defined. That is, examples of what we now recognize as derivatives first were used on an ad hoc basis in solving particular problems; then the general concept lying behind them these uses was identified (as part of the invention of calculus); then many properties of the derivative were explained and developed in applications both to …

Using Mathematical Concepts To Illustrate Scriptural And Spiritual Ideas, Robert Brabenec

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1983

Christian mathematics faculty and students respond in differing ways to this idea of applying mathematics to Scripture, and vice-versa. Mathematics is man-made, while Scripture is inspired by God, so they should be disjoint entities. However, it is well known that the Scripture used analogies of familiar human objects and ideas in order to explain spiritual ideas. This paper discusses various mathematical concepts and how they illustrate Scriptural and spiritual ideas.

The Activitiy And Application Of Mathematics, R. S. D. Thomas

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1983

There are four so-called philosophies of mathematics that I regard as totally discredited, formalism, intuitionism, logicism, and Platonism. It is a common feature of the ism philosophies of mathematics that they do not take the application of mathematics very seriously. This paper examines a view of mathematics that takes applications seriously.