COURSE
Honors 213, Foundations of Geometry
TEXT
 

Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometries , Third Edition, Marvin Jay Greenberg, W H Freeman and Company, 1993.

Proofs and Refutations, Imre Lakatos, Cambridge University Press, 1988.

TIME
2:00-2:50 P.M. \ M,T,Q, F
ROOM
Thompson Hall 311
INSTRUCTOR
Bryan Smith (Professor)
OFFICE
Thompson Hall 321-E
PHONE
Extension 3562
E-Mail
bryans@ups.edu
OFFICE HOURS
3:00 - 3:50 P.M. Monday and Thursday
5:00 - 6:10 A.M. Tuesday

I am also happy to meet at any other time we can arrange. Feel free to stop me after class or call to find a mutually acceptable time. I also encourage you to contact me by electronic mail.

EXAMINATIONS
There will be three, 100 point, one hour, in-class examinations. Make-up examinations will be given only if you make arrangements prior to the exam. Each examination will be written so that approximately half of the problems are ones you have seen before. The rest of the exam will involve similar, but new problems. Sufficient interest from the class can change examination dates or move the exams to a 2-hour, evening format. The examinations are tentatively scheduled for the following days:

Examination One Friday February 9
Examination Two Friday March 9
Examination Three Friday April 13

Writing
There will be one paper assigned slightly after the midpoint of the semester.

Much of this course focusses on how mathematics addresses the fundamental concepts of proof, truth and meaning as well as the methodology of mathematical research. To extend this, please select another discipline (your major, minor or some other field of interest) and, in your paper, examine how this discipline addresses these same fundamental concepts. Finally, take a stand on the ``right way'' to address the concepts of truth and meaning. Be sure to supply both justifications for and arguments to defuse the most obvious objections to your stance.

Clearly this is a topic that begs for entire books rather than a paper written in 2-4 weeks. Do not get carried away with the second part of the paper (justifying your choice of the ``right way'' to proceed). My primary goal is that you investigate how different disciplines deal (or don't) with such philosophical fundamentals as ``truth'' and begin the process of reconciling those approaches with your own world view.

Paper Logistics

  •   Due March 23: Meet with me to discuss your selected discipline. Be early as I will be ensuring there is a wide distribution of selected disciplines.

  • Due April 5: Turn in 3 copies of a draft of the paper. I will distribute 2 of those copies to your referees. (This means each of you will referee two papers.) The referees will read the paper for accuracy, clarity of exposition and appropriateness for the Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics at Puget Sound as outlined in the Journal Guidelines for Authors (see the class web page for details).

  • Due April 16 Referees give their reports to authors.

  • Due April 25: Turn in the final version of the paper along with all referee comments. If the paper receives a passing grade, it will be published in the journal.

  • The author will receive a grade for the paper itself and the referees will receive grades for the quality of their comments.

Course Information Updates
If you wish, after every examination (and at other requested times) I will post a report on your current standing in the class on my university web page. You should keep track of your grades on the various assignments and check them against these reports. If there are any discrepancies they should be dealt with immediately.

FINAL EXAMINATION
The Final will be cumulative but will be weighted more heavily (about 1/3) on the material covered since the third in-class examination. It is scheduled for Thursday May 10, 2001 from 4:00 until 6:00 P.M. Please note this schedule and do not plan to leave town until after the final.

HOMEWORK
There will be 12-14 (weekly) homework assignments over the course of the semester. Each assignment will consist of at least two problems. Approximately half of the problems will be outlined in class and will be graded on clarity of exposition as well as correctness. When you prepare these problems, think of them as writing assignments. The remaining problems can be written in the more traditional outline form and will be graded on content and accuracy.

TOTAL POINTS
 
Homework 45%
Paper 15%
Referee Reports 5%
Examinations 25%
Final Examination 10%

First Assignment
(Due Friday January 19) Find my university web page

(http://www.math.ups.edu/ ® faculty ® Bryan Smith)

and locate the Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics at Puget Sound ``Guidelines for Authors'' page. Then send an e-mail message to me at bryans@ups.edu indicating that you have an account, understand how to access the World Wide Web, and are aware of how to avoid mistakenly sending e-mail to Beverly Smith that is meant for Bryan Smith.



File translated from TEX by TTH, version 2.73.
On 15 Jan 2001, 16:00.