Lecture Information
Instructor: Adam Bowers
Time: MWF 9:00a-9:50a
Location: CENTR 217B
Discussion section: A01 W 4:00p-4:50p HSS 4025
TA information will be posted to Canvas.
Final Exam (from the Schedule of Classes): 06/14/2023 W 8:00a-10:59a Location: TBA
Course Information
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will introduce students to the origins of many topics that they may encounter during a first-year mathematics course. Focus will be on the mathematical development (rather than the mathematicians themselves), but some biographical information will be given. (Note: Topics of Math 163 may vary from year to year.)
REQUIRED TEXT: Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics by William Dunham. Penguin Books; 1st edition (August 1, 1991).
From the back of the book: "Dunham places each theorem within its historical context and explores the very human and often turbulent life of the creator—from Archimedes, the absentminded theoretician whose absorption in his work often precluded eating or bathing, to Gerolamo Cardano, the sixteenth-century mathematician whose accomplishments flourished despite a bizarre array of misadventures, to the paranoid genius of modern times, Georg Cantor. He also provides step-by-step proofs for the theorems, each easily accessible to readers with no more than a knowledge of high school mathematics. A rare combination of the historical, biographical, and mathematical, Journey Through Genius is a fascinating introduction to a neglected field of human creativity."