Home Page for MATH 3Z03

Term 2, 2014/15


Plato
costa

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Announcements and Update

Course Description
Instructor
Lecture
Grading Scheme
Policy Notes

Announcements and Updates

Final Essay   is due in class on Monday,  April 6th, 2015 (Easter Monday!)

There is no Final Examination!

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There was a 30-minute Quiz in class on Friday, March 27th, 2015. You can give me some true/false or multiple choice questions based on your presentation

Click  here  for a proof I gave in Math 2X03 of Kepler's laws using Newtonian laws of gravity.


Assignment #5  was due in class on Wednesday,  March 25th, 2015 (I have corrected the mistake I made in #4).

Second round of presentations:


Wednesday, March 25th: Joann Rajanayagam  "Mathematics and Genetics"

Monday, March 23rd: Erin Osaka  "Keplerian orbits and Newton's laws"


Friday, March 20th: Nicholas Murphy  "The origins of Statistics and Actuarial Mathematics"
Friday, March 20th: John Kim  "Cardano and Tartaglia"

Wednesday, March 18th: Yisell Bravo Clavero and Caroline Abedlmasseh  "Infinities"

Monday, March 16th: Darsikan Anandarajah  "Ramanujan"
Monday, March 16th: Michael Dosbaev  "Norbert Wiener"

Friday, March 13th: Savannah Spilotro and Daniel McClory   "Mathematics and Architecture"

Wednesday, March 11th: Frank Geronimo "Mathematics of Finance" 

Wednesday, March 11th: Marty Hutchinson  "Chaos"

Monday, March 9th: Cameron Ryerson: "The Bernoulli's and their Mathematics"

Monday, March 9th: Saleha Bakht  "Time keeping"

Friday, March 6th: Sofia Khaddadine and Marina Kicic "Probability and Gambling"

Wednesday, March 4th: Naomi Pullen and  Erin Robinson   "Mathematical Magic"

Monday, March 2nd: Barbara Josic     "Leonardo da Vinci, his Art and Mathematics"

Friday, Feb. 27th:  Christopher Litfin  "Medieval Logic"



Assignment #4   was due in class on MondayMarch 9th, 2015 (extended to Wednesday, March 11th)

Assignment #3   was due in class on Wednesday, February 25th, 2015

The rest of the schedule is not fixed yet, since a number of students missed class on Friday. We will fix the remaining talks on Monday, right after the break.
Have a good reading week!

On Friday, Feb. 13th, we discussed topics and dates for the second round of presentations
The second round of presentations will begin after reading week.

There was a 30-minute Quiz in class on Wednesday, February 11th

The final presentation:

Monday, Feb. 9thJohn Kim "Pascal"

Students are requested to make up some quiz questions (true/false or multiple choice) about their presentations (one question for each student) and give them to me or send them to me by email by the end of next week (February 6th).

Because of the snow day, I reshuffled the presentations:

Presenters for the week Feb. 2 - 6

Wednesday, Feb. 4th: Yisell Bravo Clavero and Caroline Abedlmasseh: "Non-Euclidean Geometry"

Friday, Feb. 6th: Darsikan Anandarajah: "Algorithms", Joann Rajanayagam "Viviani and his Theorem"

University is closed today, Monday, February 2nd. 

The due date for Assignment #2 is now Wednesday, February 4th, 2015 (please hand it to me in class)


Assignment #2 is due in class (please hand it to me at the beginning of the lecture period) on Monday, February 2nd, 2015 (postponed to Wednesday, February 4th, 2015)

Presenters for the week Jan. 26 - 30

Monday, Jan. 26th: Marty Hutchinson and Frank Geronimo: "Diophantus"

Wednesday, Jan. 28st: Nicholas Murphy:  "Euler"

Friday, Jan. 30th: Cameron Ryerson: "Pi

Students who haven't picked a date and/or a topic for their presentation (first round) are requested to do so by Friday, Jan. 23rd (and let me know!)

Presenters for the week Jan. 19 - 23

Monday, Jan. 19th: Naomi Pullen and  Erin Robinson: "The Golden Ratio"

Wednesday, Jan. 21st: Savannah Spilotro and Daniel McClory: "The Chinese Remainder Theorem"

Friday, Jan. 23rd: Sofia Khaddadine: "Ancient Indian Mathematics" ,  Saleha Bakht: "Arab Mathematics"

Assignment #1 was due in class (please hand it to me at the beginning of the lecture period) on Monday, January 19th, 2015

Presenters for the week Jan. 12 - 16

Monday, Jan. 12th: Erin Osaka "The Displacement Principle of Archimedes" ,  Michael Dosbaev "Mayan Mathematics"

Wednesday, Jan. 14th: Barbara Josic "Ancient Egyptian Mathematics"

Friday, Jan. 16th: Marina Kicic "The Pythagoreans",  Christopher Litfin  "The Three Classical Construction Problems of Greek Geometry"


Announcement #0

This is an inquiry course, where students are responsible for reading the relevant material from the reference books and/or any other resources (freely available on the internet). There will be very few lectures by the instructor and 90% of the lecture periods will be presentations by the students. Attendance is mandatory and will be recorded. This is known as self-directed blended experiential learning.  As a "reward" there will be no scheduled written final examination during the examination period. However there will be regular assignments which are based on authentic historical problems (which are not that easy!) and two quizzes (which will be held in class) with questions based on the presentations and the assignments. 


We will start with the student presentations on Monday, January 12th. Students will be asked to sign-up for presentations during the first lecture on Monday, January 5th, 2015. Please show up.

During the first week I will outline the flow (logistics) of the course (and of the history of Mathematics). I will propose topics for the first round of presentations. I plan to cover Mathematics from antiquity to the end of the 18th century before reading week. Students will pick topics and sign up for the first round of presentations during the first week of the semester. Of course, students are encouraged to "inquire" on their own. For starters, have a look at the following excellent web site at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (where Kate and William met)


For more detailed instructions about the presentations and the reports please click  here

Click  here  for the course outline  (which is just this page without the announcements and updates).

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Course Description

Course Objective:

This is an inquiry course, where students are expected to study relevant aspects of the history and development of important mathematical concepts and ideas in a scientific and cultural context.

Some reference books:

Some interesting pages about the history of mathematics on the internet:

  Please let me know if you find other relevant web pages about the history of Mathematics

 
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Instructor


Lectures    Mon, Wed  11:30 - 12:20  Fri 13:30 - 14:20  in  HH/217

Grading Scheme

  • Attendance and Participation                 10%
  • Five Assignments:                                    30%
  • Two Quizzes:                                             10%
  • Two Presentations with Reports :           40 %
  •  Final Essay and Report:                         10%
  •  NO Final Exam

Here are the tentative dates for all the assignments: There will be 5 assignments. Doing the assignments regularly is an integral part of the course.
Please hand the assignments to me at the beginning of the lecture period on the due dates. Late assignments will not be accepted.

  • Assignment #1   due:  in class   on     January 19th, 2015 
  • Assignment #2   due:  in class   on    February 2nd, 2015  
  • Assignment #3   due:  in class   on     February 25th, 2015   
  • Assignment #4   due:  in class   on      March 11th, 2015 
  • Assignment #5   due:  in class   on    March  25th, 2015 
  • The dates for the two Quizzes will be announced in class and on this web page.

    Every student is required to do two  15 to 20-minute presentations chosen from a list of topics suggested and approved by the instructor. The report (6 to 10 pages) on the presentation is due within a week after the presentation.


    Academic Dishonesty:  

    You are expected to exhibit honesty and use ethical behaviour in all aspects of the learning process. Academic credentials you earn are rooted in principles of honesty and academic integrity. Academic dishonesty is to knowingly act or fail to act in a way that results or could result in unearned academic credit or advantage. This behaviour can result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university. It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on the various types of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, located at http://www.mcmaster.ca/academicintegrity

    The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:

    1.  Plagiarism, e.g. the submission of work that is not one's own or for which other credit has been obtained.

    2.  Improper collaboration in group work.

    3.  Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations.

    Other Policy Notes:

    MSAF policy:

    When using the MSAF, also report your absence to me (the course instructor M. Min-Oo) within 2 working days by email (minoo@mcmaster.ca) and contact me in person to learn what relief may be granted for the work you have missed, and relevant details such as revised deadlines, or time and location of a make-up exam. Please note that the MSAF may not be used for term work worth 30% or more, nor can it be used for the final examination.
    Please refer to

       
    http://academiccalendars.romcmaster.ca/content.php?catoid=7&navoid=559#Requests_for_Relief_for_Missed_Academic_Term_Work   and   https://www.mcmaster.ca/msaf/index.html  
     
    for the exact rules.

    Calculators: Only the standard McMaster calculator Casio fx 991 can be used for the quizzes..

    Important Notice:
    The instructor and the university reserve the right to modify or revise elements of the course during the term. The university may change the dates and deadlines for any or all courses in extreme circumstances. If either type of modification or revision becomes necessary, reasonable notice and communication with the students will be given with explanation and the opportunity to comment on changes. It is the responsibility of the student to check their McMaster email and course websites weekly during the term and to note any changes.


    Schedule of Topics (tentative)

    Week 1 (05/01 to 09/01):   Introductory lectures

    Week 2 (12/01 to 16/01):  Presentations,

    Week 3 (19/01 to 23/01):  Presentations   Assignment #1 due on Monday

    Week 4 (26/01 to 30/01):  
    Presentations   

    Week 5 (02/02 to 06/02):   Presentations Assignment #2 due on Monday

    Week 6 (09/02 to 13/02):  
    Presentations  Lecture and  Quiz on Friday 
     

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    Week 7 (16/02 to 20/02): 
      Reading Week
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    Week 8 (23/02 to 27/02)  Lectures  Assignment #3 due on Monday

    Week 9 (02/03 to 06/03):   Presentations

    Week 10 (09/03 to 13/03):  Presentations
      Assignment #4 due on Monday

    Week 11 (16/03 to 20/03):  Presentations

    Week 12 (23/03 to 27/03): Presentations  Assignment #5 due on Monday

    Week 13 (30/03 to 03/04): Presentations  Lecture and Quiz on Friday 

    Week 14 (06/03 to 08/04): Final Essay and Report due on Monday