Oxton House Publishers, LLC

Math through the Ages

Would you like to include some history in your math classes, but don’t want to search through those big math history texts?
Would you like to teach a math history course in your high school, but don’t have time to put one together?
Would you like your students
to do projects relating math to social studies and the arts, but don’t know where to start?

Where did math come from?
Who thought up all those algebra symbols, and why?
What’s the story behind π ?
How did the ancient Egyptians write numbers?
What did the Arabs contribute to mathematics?
What’s the metric system?
Who thought up sine and cosine?
Who invented the first computers?

In either case, this book is designed for you!

Math through the Ages

A Gentle History for Teachers and Others

by William P. Berlinghoff & Fernando Q. Gouvêa

Compact, easy to read, and economical, it is ideal as

a handy reference for high school or college math teachers,
a math history text for a high school or college course,
a supplement to other high school or college math courses, or
an introductory reader for anyone interested in the history of mathematics.

The main section of this book consists of 25 “sketches”—bite-size (4- to 6-page) histories of topics that come up in high school and early college mathematics. These can be read or used independently of each other, in any order, to fit your needs. For instance:

— Sketches 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 17 outline the development of numbers and numerals;

— Sketches 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 16, and 17 trace the development of algebraic concepts;

— Sketches 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, and 20 describe the emergence of various geometric ideas;

— Sketches 21 and 22 summarize the beginnings of probability and statistics; and

— Sketches 23, 24, and 25 describe the start of formal logic, computers, and set theory.

You can choose any or all of these to suit your students’ level or your own interests. The “big picture” is in a 54-page introductory section, “The History of Mathematics in a Large Nutshell,” and 7 pages of “What to Read Next” gives you or your students a head start on researching topics in more depth.

Math through the Ages comes in two versions (see the pictures at right):

The original edition is a 216-page paperback that sells for only $19.95,
a very affordable teacher resource or supplementary course text.

The Expanded Edition, co-published with the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a 274-page hardbound book that includes all the same text material as the original, plus 54 added pages of Questions and Projects, an ideal high school or college text.

Original Edition
216 pp.
paperback

$21.95

1-881929-21-3

Do you teach math?

Or are you just curious?

Made by Serif

Expanded Edition,
274 pp.

hardbound
$49.95

0-88385-736-7

The Expanded Edition adds two pages
of Questions and Projects to each Sketch and 27 detailed Project ideas at the end
of the overview. A 120-page Instructor’s Guide, free with any class-size adoption, has detailed solutions to the Questions and extensive commentaries on most of the Projects.