Mathematical Expeditions

Exploring Word Problems across the Ages

Frank J. Swetz (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

208 Seiten

2012
Johns Hopkins University Press (Verlag)
978-1-4214-0438-7 (ISBN)

Infos

A little bucket, one-third full, is 8 inches deep, and its upper and lower diameters are 7 inches and 6 inches, respectively. How large is the frog which, jumping into the bucket, causes the water to rise 3 inches? Word problems not unlike this example are a staple on math tests and of abiding interest to students, teachers, and professional mathematicians alike. Frank Swetz, a highly regarded mathematics educator, gathers hundreds of these problems in this fun and fascinating introduction to mathematics from around the world. "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. What better way to teach students the multicultural aspects of math than by assigning them problems first composed on clay tablets by Babylonian scribes, included in the Rhind papyrus, or Vedic problems scratched on tree bark? From Egypt to Greece to China to India, Swetz's problems - both practical and abstract - span centuries and cultures.
Swetz has organized the problems by culture and historical period, showing, through the various constructs and contexts of the problems, the history and development of mathematics throughout the world. Along the way, he tells us what various cultures knew about math and how they came to learn it, providing instructors with a wonderful way to incorporate multicultural mathematics into the middle school, high school, and college classroom.

Autor

Frank J. Swetz is a professor emeritus of mathematics and education at The Pennsylvania State University. Among his numerous books are Learning Activities from the History of Mathematics; Five Fingers to Infinity: A Journey through the History of Mathematics; and Capitalism and Arithmetic: The New Math of the 15th Century.

Inhalt

Preface
1. Word Problems: Footprints from the History of Mathematics
2. Problems, Problems: A Resource for Teaching
3. Ancient Babylonia (2002–1000 BCE)
4. Ancient Egypt
5. Ancient Greece
6. Ancient China
7. India
8. Islam
9. Medieval Europe
10. Renaissance Europe
11. Japanese Temple Problems
12. The Ladies Diary (1704–1841)
13. Nineteenth-Century Victorian Problems
14. Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century American Problems
15. Problems from the Farmer's Almanac
16. Nineteenth-Century Calculus Problems
17. Some Sample Problem Solution Methods
18. Where to from Here? Where Do You Want to Go?
Acknowledgments
Answers to Numbered Problems
Glossary of Strange and Exotic Terms: Measurements, Monetary Units, and Culturally Relevant Words
Bibliography
Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 10.9.2012
• Zusatzinfo: 32 Line drawings, black and white; 59 Halftones, black and white
• Verlagsort: Baltimore, MD
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 152 x 229 mm
• Gewicht: 295 g
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Angewandte Mathematik
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik ► Geschichte der Mathematik
• ISBN-10: 1-4214-0438-9 / 1421404389
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4214-0438-7 / 9781421404387
• Zustand: Neuware