Previous Weeks in the Honors 213 class
This file will contain the week-to-week reading and lecture
schedules. At the end of the week the "this week" will be
modified to reflect what actually happened and will be appended to
this file.
Week 1: Monday, January 21
- Topics
- Introduction to the course
- Some history
- Reading
Monday:
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday. No classes or office hours
Tuesday:
- Introduction to the course
Thursday:
- Some history
- The axiomatic method
Friday:
- Euclid's first four postulates
Other Notes:
- Office Hours begin next Monday
Week 2: Monday, January 28
- Topics
- Euclid's postulates
- Logic and proof
- Reading
Monday:
Tuesday:
- Attempts to prove the parallel postulate
- The classical problems on antiquity
Thursday:
- "Rules of the Game"
- Introduction to logic: propositional logic and truth tables.
Friday:
- In-class workshop on straight-edge and compass constructions
Other notes:
- Office Hours begin this week
Week 3: Monday, February 4
- Topics
- Euclid's postulates
- Logic and proof
- Reading
Monday:
- Propositional Logic and associated logic rules
Tuesday:
- Propositional Logic and associated logic rules
Thursday:
- Hw #1 returned - notes and questions
- Proof by cases
Friday:
- Predicate Logic and associated logic rules
- Incidence axioms
Other notes:
- Monday is the last day to drop without record.
Week 4: Monday, February 11
Monday:
- Review incidence geometry
- Proof of proposition 2.1
- Interpretations and Models
- Discussion of term paper / project
Tuesday:
- Propositions in incidence geometry
- Interpretations and models
Thursday:
- Affine planes
- Perspective and Projective Planes
- Isomorphism of models
Friday:
- Hilbert's axioms
- Axioms of Betweeness
- Some topology
Other notes:
- Hour Exam #1 is next Friday.
Week 5: Monday, February 18
- Topics
- Hilbert's postulates
- Neutral Geometry
- Reading
Monday:
- Some basic set theory
- No office hours today
Tuesday:
Thursday:
- Return of homework - notes
- Review for hour exam #1
Friday:
Other notes:
- Hour Exam #1 is this Friday.
- No classes or office hours next Thursday, February 28 - Friday, February 29
(travel to and attendance at the
Columbia History of Science Group seminar at Friday Harbor). For
further details on this conference, please contact
Kristin Johnson of the Science, Technology, and Society Program.
Week 6: Monday, February 25
- Topics
- Hilbert's postulates
- Neutral Geometry
- Reading
Monday:
- Axioms of Betweeness through the statement of the theorem that a line
partitions a plane into two half planes.
Tuesday:
Thursday:
- No class or office hours today (see note below)
Friday:
- No class or office hours today (see note below)
Other notes:
- No classes or office hours Thursday, February 28 - Friday, February 29
(travel to and attendance at the Columbia History of Science Group seminar at Friday Harbor)
For further details on this conference, please contact
Kristin Johnson of the Science, Technology, and Society Program.
- Term paper proposals due next Monday.
Week 7: Monday, March 3
- Topics
- Hilbert's postulates
- Neutral Geometry
- Reading
Monday:
- Instructor ill - no classes or office hours
Tuesday:
- Plane separation
- Line separation
- Term paper proposals due
Thursday:
- Line Separation
- Pasch's Theorem
Friday:
- Interiors of angles
- Crossbar theorem
Other notes:
- Term paper proposals due Monday
- Monday is the last day to drop with an automatic 'W'
- Spring Break is week after next (March 17 - 21)
- Hour exam #2 will be the Friday following Spring Break.
Week 8: Monday, March 10
Monday:
Tuesday:
- Axioms of Congruence - angles and triangles
Thursday:
- Homework returned - notes
Friday:
- Comparison of segments
- Some construction justifications
Other notes:
- Mid-term is Friday, March 14 (not an exam date for us)
- Hour exam #2 will be Friday following Spring Break
- Annotated term paper/project bibliography due Thursday after Spring Break
(early submissions cheerfully accepted). Please note change in date.
Week 9: Monday, March 17
- Topics
- Spring Break (no classes or office hours)
- Reading
Other notes:
- This week is Spring Break!
- Hour exam #2 will be the Friday following Spring Break.
- Annotated term paper/project bibliography due Thursday after Spring Break
(early submissions cheerfully accepted). Please note change in
date.
Week 10: Monday, March 24
- Topics
- Hilbert's postulates
- Neutral Geometry
- Reading
Monday:
Tuesday:
Thursday:
- Continuity
- Annotated term paper/project bibliography due (Please note new date)
- Review for exam #2
Friday:
Other notes:
- Annotated term paper/project bibliography due Thursday (please note new
date)
- Hour exam #2 will be this Friday.
Week 11: Monday, March 31
Monday:
- Hilbert Parallel Postulate
- Neutral Geometry
- Alternate interior angle theorem
Tuesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
- Measures of angles and segments
- Some consequences of angle measurement
Other notes:
- Thursday student presentations begin next week.
- Exam #3 will be Friday, May 2. Please note that this is in the
last full week of class.
Week 12: Monday, April 7
- Topics
- Neutral Geometry
- History of the parallel postulate
- Reading
Monday:
Tuesday:
- Equivalence of various parallel postulates
- Saccheri and Lambert Quadrilaterals
Thursday:
- Student Problem Presentations
Friday:
- More on Saccheri and Lambert Quadrilaterals
Other notes:
- Thursday student presentations begin this week.
- The term paper draft is due next Friday
- Exam #3 will be Friday, May 2. Please note that this is in the
last full week of class.
- There will be no class Thursday, May 1, because of a memorial service
for Emeritus Professor Stewart Lowther in the Rotunda. Our exam review
will be on Tuesday, and there will be no problem presentations that week.
Week 13: Monday, April 14
- Topics
- Neutral Geometry
- History of the parallel postulate
- Reading
Monday:
- More on Saccheri quadrilaterals
Tuesday:
Thursday:
- Student Problem Presentations
Friday:
- History of the parallel postulate: Proclus, Clavius and Wallis
- Term paper draft due
Other notes:
- Term paper draft is due Friday, April 18.
- Exam #3 will be Friday, May 2. Please note that this is in the
last full week of class.
- There will be no class Thursday, May 1, because of a memorial service
for Emeritus Professor Stewart Lowther in the Rotunda. Our exam review
will be on Tuesday, and there will be no problem presentations that week.
Week 14: Monday, April 21
Monday:
- History of the parallel postulate: Legendre, Lambert, and Bolyai
the elder
- The discovery of non-Euclidean geometry: Bolyai the younger and
Gauss
- Lobachevsky (including a song to learn)
Tuesday:
- The Hyperbolic Parallel Axiom
Thursday:
- Student Problem Presentations
- More on the hyperbolic model
Friday:
- Similar implies congruent (AAA)
- Towards a classification of parallel lines
Other Notes
- Hour exam #3 will be next Friday (May 2)
- There will be no class Thursday, May 1, because of a memorial service
for Emeritus Professor Stewart Lowther in the Rotunda. Our exam review
will be on Tuesday, and there will be no problem presentations that week.
- Wednesday, May 7, is the last day of classes. All course materials
due. No class work can be accepted past 5:00 on that date.
Week 15: Monday, April 28
Monday:
- Classification of parallel lines
- The Klein and Poincare models of hyperbolic geometry
Tuesday:
- The independence of the parallel postulate
- Review for Exam #3
Thursday:
- No class (Memorial service for Emeritus Professor Stewart Lowther in the
Rotunda)
Friday:
Other Notes
- There will be no class Thursday, May 1, because of a memorial service
for Emeritus Professor Stewart Lowther in the Rotunda. Our exam review
will be on Tuesday, and there will be no problem presentations that week.
- Hour exam #3 will be Friday, May 2. Please note that this is in
the last full week of classes.
- Wednesday, May 7, is the last day of classes. All course materials
due. No class work can be accepted past 5:00 on that date.
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