Math 110/111 Diving Into Research History of Mathematical Recreations Fall 2012/Spring 2013 Prof. D. Joyce, BP 322, 793-7421 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Clark University

• General description from Clark's Academic Catalog

  MATH 110/111: Diving Into Research: History of Mathematical Recreations

  We will explore recreational mathematics—mathematical puzzles, games, and pastimes—through the ages. We'll look at them in their historical context. Who used them and when, and if we can answer the questions, why, and how did they fit into their cultures? How did they connect to other recreational mathematics, and to mathematics in general? Can we determine their sources and how they traveled from culture to culture, if they did? We'll see how they led to the development of some serious mathematics in geometry, number theory, probability, combinatorics, game theory, and topology.

  Note: This yearlong course is 0.5 unit per semester, and the full year is necessary to obtain credit. It is graded on a credit/no credit basis. Math 110/111 does not satisfy any requirement of the Mathematics major.

  Fulfills the Formal Analysis requirement.

• Course Hours.
  To be determined. We'll meet once a week for an hour and 15 minutes throughout the year. Tentatively it's scheduled for Monday, 1:25–2:40.

• Office Hours. BP 322. MWF 10:00–11:50
  My phone extension is 7421. Email me at djoyce.
  The Math and Computer Science Department is on the third floor of old part of the Science building near Maywood Street.

• Syllabus. This is a seminar. There is no set syllabus.

  What we actually do in this seminar will depends on who's in it. Together we'll explore a few things, then work individually or in groups exploring specific questions and/or fields, and discuss what we're finding with others in the course. We'll probably have presentations for Academic Spree Day in the spring. There are a lot of directions we can go, and where we go depends on our individual interests.

  This is meant to be an enjoyable seminar where we can leisurely explore the overlap of recreation and mathematics. That includes both (1) mathematics that's fun—mathematical games, puzzles, and pastimes—and (2) games, puzzles, and pastimes that can use mathematics to understand and/or solve.

  Although we'll primarily look at historical mathematical recreations, history continues up to the present time, so our time frame is large. Naturally, we'll also explore how mathematical recreations led to the creation of some branches of mathematics.

• Web pages for related courses
  Math 105, History of Mathematics

• Pages on the web for mathematical recreations
  • David Singmaster's annotated Sources in Recreational Mathematics
  • Bibliography of recreational mathematics

This page is located at http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/ma110/