Math 420 Spring 2008

Math 420 A

Monday, May 12, 4:00 - 6:00. We will not have a final exam in this class (actually, we will not have exams in this class). The final exam period will be used for turning in the term paper.

Burton, David M.: The History of Mathematics, McGraw-Hill 2005
Struik, Dirk J.: A Concise History of Mathematics, Dover Publications, 1987
Other readings as assigned.
A particularly useful resource is The MacTutor History of Mathematics web page at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland).

Instructor:

Bob Matthews
- email
- web page
Office: Thompson 390E
Extension 3561
My schedule
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.
Email messages are welcome, and can be used to ask a question or to set up an appointment. My schedule is posted here. Hours marked 'O. H.' are office hours, and hours marked 'open' on my schedule may be available for appointments (to be made in advance), but are not office hours and I may not be in my office during 'open' hours unless I have set up an appointment with you. If none of the office hours work out for you, please send me an email.

Mode of instruction:

Homework will be assigned frequently (probably weekly), and homework assignments will be due at least two regular class periods following the assignment (leaving a day before an assignment is due to discuss any questions or problems). From each homework set I will select several problems to grade. Questions on any problems, assigned or not, are, of course, welcome. The cumulative weight of the homework will be one unit of your course evaluation.
Three extended essays. These will be papers responding to a topic specified at least three weeks before the due date of the paper. I will either specify a single topic, or give you a choice of topics from which you may pick one to respond to. Each extended essay will develop an idea from the course discussion so far, will include appropriate citations and the use of sources beyond the textbooks and the web, and will be graded in part on the quality of writing and clarity of expression.
A term paper, having the weight of two units. This will be a final paper to be turned in by the date and time given for the final exam. There will not be a final exam in this class.
Your final grade will then be (cumulative homework (adjusted to 100 pts) + three extended essays (100 pts. each) + final term paper (200 pts.)) / 6. More details on the extended essays and the term paper can be found here.

I will make every effort to return homework and extended essays no later than a week from the time they are turned in. That is, papers turned in on a Wednesday should be returned no later than the following Wednesday.
Math 420 is a special topics course. These courses are used to explore a topic not currently in the Mathematics curriculum at Puget Sound. In some cases (and, in particular, this case) a special topics course is used to try out and evaluate a course for possible inclusion in the Department's regular course offerings and in the University Bulletin. What this means for us is that the schedule of topics is likely to be more fluid for this course this semester than it is for more established courses. Please expect that to happen. However, the schedule of extended essays, the ways in which student work is evaluated and a final grade computed, and the other more mechanical parts of the course are intended to remain as described in this document. Please keep track of the links below to the this week / next week / previous weeks pages which describe in more detail what we will be doing for the next two weeks and what we have done in the past.