MM822: History of Mathematics

The course cannot be chosen by students, who have passed the 5 ECTS version of MM822 (UVA 15008901).

Students taking the course are expected to have knowledge of basic concepts within core areas of mathematics such as elementary geometry and concepts such as continuity, limit, differentiability, infinite series from mathematical analysis.

Furthermore it presupposes that the student is able to by him/herself read mathematical texts at BA-level.

• To give the student an overview of the
  history of mathematics from ancient Civilizations to the 20th century.
  The course gives a more detailed insight to the following subjects:
  history of equations; the development of calculus; Euclidean and
  non-Euclidean geometry.
• To allow the students to concentrate on a chosen subject with the history of mathematics.

In relation to the competence profile of the degree it is the explicit focus of the course to:

• Give the competence to produce material for teaching history of mathematics in the Danish high school.
• Provide knowledge of the development of mathematics through times.

The learning objectives of the course are that the student demonstrates the ability to:

• select and present relevant parts of the syllabus
• place a piece of mathematics in an internal and external historical context
• present certain methods that were used by previous mathematicians
• analyse and present historical source material

The following main topics are contained in the course: Numbers, magnitudes and real numbers. Greek geometry. History of equations. Pre -history of Calculus. The invention of Calculus: Newton and Leibniz. 18th- and 19th- Century Analysis. Non-Euclidean geometry. Aspects of Ninetieth and Twentieth Century mathematics.

Activities during the study phase:

• Preparing a presentation of one of the assignments in the tutorials.
• Work in groups on a chosen historical text, preparation of presentation and writing report.