Honors 213

Lecture and Exam Schedule

Spring 2008

Spring 2008 Exam Schedule:

• Exam #1 will be Friday, February 22
• Exam #2 will be Friday, March 28
• Exam #3 will be Friday, May 2.  Please note that this is in the last full week of class.
• Honors 213 has a final exam scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, 4:00 - 6:00PM.  It will be a two-hour, comprehensive exam having the weight of two hour exams.

This is a tentative schedule of lectures and readings, and is likely to change as we progress through the semester.  I will try and keep exam dates fixed (and will provide adequate notice of changes in exam dates), but all else is subject to change.  The date and time of the final exam is, of course, set by the University and is not subject to change.

Week 1:  Monday, January 21

• Topics: 
  • Introduction to the course
  • Some history
  • The axiomatic method
• Reading:  Chapter 1
• Other Notes
• Monday is Martin Luther King day:  no classes or office hours.
• Office hours start next week

Week 2:  Monday, January 28

• Topics: 
  • Euclid's postulates
  • Logic and proof
• Reading: 
  • Chapters 1,2
• Other Notes
• Office hours start this week

Week 3:  Monday, February 4

• Topics: 
  • Logic and proof
• Reading: 
  • Chapter 2
• Other Notes
• Monday is the last day to drop without record

Week 4 :  Monday, February 11

• Topics: 
  • Logic and proof
  • Discussion of term paper / project
• Reading: 
  • Chapters 2,3
• Other Notes
• Hour exam #1 is next Friday, February 22

Week 5:  Monday, February 18

• Topics: 
  • Hilbert's axioms
• Reading: 
  • Chapter 3
• Other Notes
• Hour exam #1 is Friday, February 22

Week 6:  Monday, February 25

• Topics: 
  • Hilbert's axioms
• Reading: 
  • Chapter 3
• Other Notes
• Term paper proposals due next Monday (March 3)
• 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)

Week 7 :  Monday, March 3

• Topics: 
  • Hilbert's axioms
• Reading: 
  • Chapter 3
• Other Notes
• Term paper proposals due Monday
• Monday is the last day to drop with an automatic 'W'

Week 8:  Monday, March 10

• Topics: 
  • Hilbert's axioms
  • Neutral geometry
• Reading: 
  • Chapters 3, 4
• 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 Monday after Spring Break (early submissions cheerfully accepted).

Week 9:  Monday, March 17

• Topics:  Spring Break!  (No classes or office hours)
• Reading
• Other Notes
• Hour exam #2 will be Friday following Spring Break
• Annotated term paper/project bibliography due Monday after Spring Break (early submissions cheerfully accepted).

Week 10:  Monday, March 24

• Topics: 
  • Neutral Geometry
• Reading: 
  • Chapters 3, 4
• Other Notes
• Hour exam #2 will be Friday March 28
• Annotated term paper/project bibliography due Thursday March 27 (Please note change in date)

Week 11:  Monday, March 31

• Topics: 
  • Neutral geometry
  • History of the parallel postulate
  • The origins of non-Euclidean geometry
• Reading: 
  • Chapters 5, 6
• Other Notes

Week 12:  Monday, April 7

• Topics: 
  • The discovery of non-Euclidean geometry
  • Hyperbolic geometry
• Reading: 
  • Chapter 6
• Other Notes
• Term paper / project draft due Friday, April 18 (next Friday)

Week 13:  Monday, April 14

• Topics: 
  • Hyperbolic geometry
• Reading: 
  • Chapters 6, 7
• Other Notes
• Term paper/project draft due Friday, April 18

Week 14:  Monday, April 21

• Topics: 
  • Foundations
• Reading: 
  • Chapters 7, 8
• Other Notes
• Hour exam #3 will be next Friday (May 2)

Week 15:  Monday, April 28

• Topics: 
  • Foundations
• Reading: 
  • Chapters 7, 8, Poincaré, plus additional material
• Other Notes
• Hour exam #3 will be Friday, May 2.  Please note that this is in the last full week of classes.

Week 16:  Monday, May 5

• Topics:  Foundations
• Reading:  As last week
• Other Notes
• 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.

Final Exams

• Honors 213 has a final exam scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, 4:00 - 6:00PM.  It will be a two-hour, comprehensive exam having the weight of two hour exams.  It will be an in-class comprehensive exam.