Honors 213

Administrivia:

• Meeting times:
• 2:00 - 2:50 MTThF Thompson 383
• Final Exam: 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.  University regulations require that all students in this class take the final at this time.
• Instructor:
• Bob Matthews (email matthews@ups.edu)
• Thompson 390E
• Extension 3561
• Office hours (tentative):
  • 11:00 - 11:50 MTThF
  • Or by appointment.
  If you catch me free at any time, please feel free to drop in. Messages sent via email are welcome, and can be used to ask a question or to set up an appointment.
• Textbook
  • Required: Greenberg, Marvin J.: Euclidean and Non-Euclidean Geometries , W.H. Freeman and Company, 2008. We will work our way through the first eight chapters of the textbook.
  • Required:  A straight-edge and compass (some inexpensive ones are available at the bookstore).
  • Other readings as assigned. In addition to readings from the textbook (which will be our primary reference), we will, from time to time, leave the textbook to explore ideas and questions generated by the text using other sources. 
  • A particularly useful resource is The MacTutor History of Mathematics web page at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland).

Weekly reading and lecture schedule

• This Week
• Next Week
• Previous Weeks

Exam Reviews

• Exam #1 Review
• Exam #2 Review
• Exam #3 Review
• Final Exam Review

Assignments

• Hon 213 Spring 2008 assignments can be found here

Term Paper

• Term paper guidelines and schedule

Evaluation

• Three hour exams + a comprehensive final: (The final exam will have the weight of two hour exams).  Your exam average will account for 60% of your grade
• Written exercises will account for 30% of your grade. I will make assignments from the textbook on a routine basis, and will select problems from each assignment to grade. You may also be asked to present your work on the board.  More extensive writing assignments will be made from the end-of-chapter problems (including major exercises) in the textbook.  Last semester I tried assigning problems to small groups, and then asking each group to make a presentation in class.  I plan to continue that this semester some time after the first several weeks.  These assignments will be part of the homework score.
• A term paper will account for the remaining 10% of your grade. 

It is possible that these ratios will change in the first weeks of the semester.  Please check this page from time to time.

Some comments on the course:

A course in Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometries serves several purposes in the undergraduate mathematics curriculum. For prospective teachers, it is a course required by many states for teacher certification. For many, it is the first course that involves rigorous proof. For students interested in the philosophy and history of mathematics, it provides an important example of how mathematics works, how one does mathematics, how mathematics has developed over time (together with false starts and wonderful surprises), and gives insight into what are commonly called 'foundational issues' (What are the role of axioms?  What is the nature of proof? What is the nature of mathematical truth? What, if anything, does this all mean? What is the geometry of the space around us?).

We will approach all of these issues in the course of this term. We will study geometry by doing it. From the practical point of view, this means that we will spend time learning how to prove things and how to present results both orally and in writing. Along the way we will talk about and work with the process of discovery, the uncovering of hidden assumptions, the rigorous presentation of results, and the logical and philosophical foundations of mathematics (and some of the issues surrounding those foundations).

So... expect

• Logic
• Foundational issues
• Proofs and methods of proofs
• Writing
• History
• Lots of geometry, and
• Philosophical issues

It will be a lot of  work, but it should also be a great deal of fun.

• The last time I taught this course
• Some old exams for this course
• Honors 213 Syllabus
• Schedule of lectures and readings

Some Important Dates:

Please check the Master Calendar for important dates in the term (last day to add/drop, etc.).

Please note that the last day to withdraw with an automatic 'W' is Monday, March 3.  The rules for withdrawing from a class have changed.  Please review the revised policy on course withdrawals in the Student Handbook

Hour Exams will be held on the following dates:

• Exam 1: Friday, February 22
• Exam 2: Friday, March 28
• Exam 3: Friday, May 2.  Please note that this is in the last full week of the term.

Final Exam: 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. University regulations require that all students in this class take the final at this time.

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