Mathematics Commons^™

Uncovering Gems Of Mathematics, Asuman G. Aksoy, Ellis Cumberbatch

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Gateway to Exploring Mathematical Sciences (GEMS) is an outreach program offered by the six mathematics departments of the Claremont Colleges for eighth, ninth, and tenth graders. In this paper, we describe our program (in terms of format, participants, mathematical activities and topics involved) and share why we are so enthusiastic about it.

I Love You Fifty, Nat Banting

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This article chronicles the merging of my roles of teacher and learner of mathematics with that of a relatively new pursuit: parenthood. Amidst my attempts to dutifully provide opportunities for my son to interact with various mathematical ideas and artifacts, it was an unanticipated moment of epiphany that allowed me to enter into his emerging world of mathematical significance and rediscover what first drew me to the teaching and learning of mathematics. My son’s innocent, yet potent, understanding of number provides an image of the power of mathematics to organize experience, structure significance, and communicate meaning.

Discrete And Continuous: A Fundamental Dichotomy In Mathematics, James Franklin

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The distinction between the discrete and the continuous lies at the heart of mathematics. Discrete mathematics (arithmetic, algebra, combinatorics, graph theory, cryptography, logic) has a set of concepts, techniques, and application areas largely distinct from continuous mathematics (traditional geometry, calculus, most of functional analysis, differential equations, topology). The interaction between the two – for example in computer models of continuous systems such as fluid flow – is a central issue in the applicable mathematics of the last hundred years. This article explains the distinction and why it has proved to be one of the great organizing themes of mathematics.

Shakespeare, A Supernova, And A Little Green Man Walk Into A Mathematics Classroom, Sheila Kirstin Miller

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Creativity amidst constraints is a hallmark of the STEM researcher. It is precisely what is required to see what has never been seen. It is also at the core of creative mathematics, more commonly called “research”. We in the 21^st century tell ourselves that science and story are separate enterprises. One goal of this article is to tell parts of the human story—featuring Shakespeare, Tycho Brahe, visiting stars, Little Green Men, and modern astrophysics—that might erode belief in that duality and illustrate why dissolving the artificial barriers between talents within individuals is to the benefit of ourselves, our students, …

One + One > Two: The Effects Of Pair Quizzes On Student Attitudes And Perceptions, Harrison W. Straley, Lauren Dupee

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Pair Quizzes are cooperative pop quizzes, taken by a pair of students working together for the same grade. The first author, Chuck, had used pair quizzes in many of his courses through his tenure teaching and was interested in determining their perceived effect on student learning and attitude toward mathematics.To this end, we designed a questionnaire and distributed it to all students currently taking and who had taken two different mathematics courses within a span of four years. Responses from those who chose to complete the survey seem to indicate that the pair quizzes had a positive effect on students’ …

A Generalised Song, Will Turner

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

We consider parallels between words and music. We call a triple of structures, one verbal, one musical, and one mathematical, in which the mathematical structure is related to the verbal and musical structures, a generalised song. With the intention of exhibiting the potential of this form, we describe a generalised song called ‘Cube’.

They Say She Was Good -- For A Woman: Poetry And Musings, Joanne Growney

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

These pages contain ideas and verses that consider the roles of women in mathematics. Details of the life of Amalie “Emmy” Noether inspired a poem and the poem, in turn, led to the poet’s growth and awareness of her self and her voice.

A Mathematician Reads Plutarch: Plato's Criticism Of Geometers Of His Time, John B. Little

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay describes the author's recent encounter with two well-known passages in Plutarch that touch on a crucial episode in the history of the Greek mathematics of the fourth century BCE involving various approaches to the problem of the duplication of the cube. One theme will be the way key sources for understanding the history of our subject sometimes come from texts that have much wider cultural contexts and resonances. Sensitivity to the history, to the mathematics, and to the language is necessary to tease out the meaning of such texts. However, in the past, historians of mathematics often interpreted …

Mathematics In The Mind's Eye: Michael Schultheis Paints Poetic And Conceptual Geometries, Patricia Grieve Watkinson

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Michael Schultheis is an established artist and a formally-educated mathematician. In his practice the two disciplines are inextricably linked. His large-scale lyrical paintings at first glance seem to focus on the effects of light and atmospheres, representing cloudscapes or waterscapes in resonant color. Yet moving through these mists are decidedly mathematical references --- drawn geometric shapes and hand-written equations. These are employed by Schultheis to represent the physical world or to express feelings (or both). For example, he may examine the structure of a pine cone or reflect on human relationships or do both at the same time. The resulting …

On French Pudding And A German Mathematician, Amy Shoemaker

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

At the turn of the 19^th century, mathematics developed the rigor that is now considered essential to the field. Mathematicians began going back and proving theorems and statements that had been taken to be true on face value, ensuring the underpinnings of mathematics were solid. This era of mathematics was characterized not only by setting foundations, but also by pushing the boundaries of new ideas. In 1830, Bolzano found an example of a function that was nowhere differentiable, despite being continuous. Thirty years later, Cellerier and Riemann each discovered another example of such a pathological function. The first everywhere …

Multifaceted Mathematicians, Juan M. Sepulcre

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This report attempts to provide an overview of some of the mathematicians who have combined their mathematical knowledge with other academic and non-academic specialities. The various examples given, many of them included in the well-known MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, corroborate the fact that although the idea of the typical polymath has receded with the passage of time, until the end of the Renaissance, most well-known mathematicians were also well-versed in a number of different sciences such as philosophy, astronomy, and physics. We also highlight other, less common combinations of knowledge, in famous mathematicians who were experts in other disciplines …

Some Thoughts On The Epicurean Critique Of Mathematics, Michael Aristidou

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this paper, we give a comprehensive summary of the discussion on the Epicurean critique of mathematics and in particular of Euclid's geometry. We examine the methodological critique of the Epicureans on mathematics and we assess whether a 'mathematical atomism' was proposed, and its implications. Finally, we examine the Epicurean philosophical stance on mathematics and evaluate whether it was on target or not.

Inquiry Based Learning From The Learner’S Point Of View: A Teacher Candidate’S Success Story, Caroline Johnson Caswell, Derek J. Labrie

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The goal of this paper is to review current research on Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) and shed some light, from a student's perspective, on the challenges and rewards of this pedagogy. The first part of the article provides an extensive review of the literature on IBL. The second part focuses on one student's experiences in an IBL classroom.

In particular, a graduate secondary mathematics student reflects upon his experiences in a college mathematics class where the instructor implemented an Inquiry Based Learning model. His experience is validated by current research on IBL educational methodology which structures the classroom environment for …

Does Content Matter In An Introduction-To-Proof Course?, Milos Savic

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Introduction-to-proof courses are becoming more prevalent in mathematics departments as more recognize the need to support students while they transition from courses focused on computation (such as calculus) to proof-intensive courses (such as real analysis). In such introduction courses, there are some common proving techniques to teach (induction, contradiction, and contraposition to name a few), but the content varies from institution to institution. This note adds to the discussion on content in such courses by analyzing two prior studies, one using a coding scheme designed to illuminate step-by-step justifications in a proof, and the other focused on interviews with course …

On Commensurability And Symmetry, David Pierce

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Commensurability and symmetry have diverged from a common Greek origin. We review the history of this divergence. In mathematics, symmetry is now a kind of measure that is different from size, though analogous to it. Size being given by numbers, the concept of numbers and their equality comes into play. For Euclid, two magnitudes were symmetric when they had a common measure; also, numbers were magnitudes, commonly represented as bounded straight lines, for which equality was congruence. When Billingsley translated Euclid into English in the sixteenth century, he used the word "commensurable" for Euclid's symmetric magnitudes; but the word had …

The Biblical Value Of Pi In Light Of Traditional Judaism, Morris Engelson

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

There are numerous attempts at a solution to the puzzle as to why the Biblical value of pi, as demonstrated by the measurements of King Solomon's pool, is exactly 3 and not a better approximation. This article shows that virtually all such published solutions are deficient because volume-based factors are ignored. Issues respecting the volume of this pool are explained, and some possible solutions of the puzzle are presented.

Perchance To Dream: Art, Mathematics, And Shakespeare, Randall E. Cone

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Visual representation of textual works has often aided in the understanding of sophisticated concepts. In the Digital Age this is particularly true, given the advent of natural language processing, the ubiquity of general programming languages, and the maturation of digital visualization. In this article, we eschew the traditional disciplinary boundaries to view and analyze Shakespeare’s works in various ways. Our point of departure is Hamlet, where we first examine the play as a unity — both graphically and analytically. We then focus on Act III, Scene 1, where we analyze one of the most famous passages in English Literature: …

Front Matter

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Infinitely Many Stability Switches In A Problem With Sublinear Oscillatory Boundary Conditions, Alfonso Castro, Rosa Pardo

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

We consider the elliptic equation −u+u = 0 with nonlinear boundary condition ∂u ∂n = λu + g(λ, x, u), where g(λ,x,s) s → 0, as |s|→∞ and g is oscillatory. We provide sufficient conditions on g for the existence of unbounded sequences of stable solutions, unstable solutions, and turning points, even in the absence of resonant solutions.

Existence Of Solutions To A Semilinear Elliptic Boundary Value Problem With Augmented Morse Index Bigger Than Two, Alfonso Castro, Ivan Ventura

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Building on the construction of least energy sign-changing solutions to variational semilinear elliptic boundary value problems introduced in [A. Castro, J. Cossio and J.M. Neuberger, Sign changing solutions for a superlinear Dirichlet problem, Rocky Mountain J. Math. 27 (1997), 1041--1053], we prove the existence of a solution with augmented Morse index at least three when a sublevel of the corresponding action functional has nontrivial topology. We provide examples where the set of least energy sign changing solutions is disconnected, hence has nontrivial topology.

Ichme-5: Fifth International Conference On The History Of Mathematics Education, Jenneke Krüger

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Ladies' Night, Robert Dawson

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

"Lady" Jane is an expert at her racket. The Joint Statistical Meetings are in Vegas, and she reckons it's payday. But she's taking on the professionals.

The University Of Montana Department Of Mathematics Post-Apocalyptic Working Seminar, Kenan A. Ince

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

16, Dan Mcquillan

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This 15 word poem suggests that the reader count the words of the poem. Since every line has half as many words as the previous line, and since the poem urges the reader to keep counting forever, one imagines a total of 16 words.

The Geometry Of Morning, Greg Huteson

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Realizing Reason: A Narrative Of Truth And Knowing By Danielle Macbeth, Emily R. Grosholz

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This review examines Danielle Macbeth’s novel and compelling account of the formal languages of mathematics, from Euclid’s geometrical diagrams to the algebraic equations of Descartes and the differential equations of Newton and Leibniz, to the much more abstract language of Galois, Bolzano and Riemann. She argues that the practice of those 19^th century mathematicians, reasoning deductively from abstract concepts like ‘group’ and ‘manifold’, inspired the philosophical logician Gottlob Frege, whose Begriffsschrift captures the procedures of those who reasoned in concepts. However, his way of formalizing mathematical reasoning was obscured by the success of Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead’s …

Solving Equations: A Make-Work Project For Math Teachers And Students, Egan J. Chernoff

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The purpose of this article is to share a particular view that I have towards solving equations in the school mathematics classroom. Specifically, I contend that solving equations in the math classroom is a make-work project for math teachers and students. For example, math teachers take a predetermined value that makes a statement true, and then proceed to make it harder and harder and harder for their students to determine the value that makes the statement true. However, math teachers do so with the explicit purpose of teaching their students how to reveal the solution that they themselves have concealed. …

Does Society Need Imo Medalists?, Man Keung Siu

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

With a title that sounds provocative but with no intention to embarrass the organizers and participants of the event of IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad) this article should be seen as the sharing of some thoughts on this activity, or more generally on mathematical competitions, by a teacher of mathematics who had once helped in the coaching of the first Hong Kong Team to take part in the 29^th IMO held in Canberra in 1988 and in the coordination work of the 35^th IMO held in Hong Kong in 1994. The author tries to look at the issue in …

Basketball, Algebra, And Probabilities, Gunhan Caglayan

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This article is an attempt to illustrate some humanistic aspects of mathematics in context, in particular, sports and scoring (basketball). The intriguing and dynamic illustrations demonstrate innovative and creative ways of integrating basketball snapshots into the pedagogy of a high school or college-level mathematics-in-context course. I have used this activity with several mathematics education students in a mathematics-in-context class as they worked in groups of five. I include here a presentation and a discussion of their explorations and analyses.

The Battle Against Malaria: A Teachable Moment, Randy K. Schwartz

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Malaria has been humanity’s worst public health problem throughout recorded history. Mathematical methods are needed to understand which factors are relevant to the disease and to develop counter-measures against it. This article and the accompanying exercises provide examples of those methods for use in lower- or upper-level courses dealing with probability, statistics, or population modeling. These can be used to illustrate such concepts as correlation, causation, conditional probability, and independence. The article explains how the apparent link between sickle cell trait and resistance to malaria was first verified in Uganda using the chi-squared probability distribution. It goes on to explain …