This book is for high school and college teachers who want to know how they can use the history of mathematics as a pedagogical tool to help their students construct their own knowledge of mathematics. Often, a historical development of a particular topic is the best way to present a mathematical topic, but teachers may not have the time to do the research needed to present the material. This book provides its readers with historical ideas and insights which can be immediately applied in the classroom. The book is divided into two sections: the first on the use of history in high school mathematics, and the second on its use in university mathematics. The articles are diverse, covering fields such as trigonometry, mathematical modeling, calculus, linear algebra, vector analysis, and celestial mechanics. Also included are articles of a somewhat philosophical nature, which give general ideas on why history should be used in teaching and how it can be used in various special kinds of courses. Each article contains a bibliography to guide the reader to further reading on the subject.

This excellent book will be very useful for students and researchers wishing to learn the basics of Poisson geometry, as well as for those who know something about the subject but wish to update and deepen their knowledge. The authors' philosophy that Poisson geometry is an amalgam of foliation theory, symplectic geometry, and Lie theory enables them to organize the book in a very coherent way. —Alan Weinstein, University of California at Berkeley This well-written book is an excellent starting point for students and researchers who want to learn about the basics of Poisson geometry. The topics covered are fundamental to the theory and avoid any drift into specialized questions; they are illustrated through a large collection of instructive and interesting exercises. The book is ideal as a graduate textbook on the subject, but also for self-study. —Eckhard Meinrenken, University of Toronto

Winner of the the Susan Elizabeth Abrams Prize in History of Science. When Isaac Newton published the Principia three centuries ago, only a few scholars were capable of understanding his conceptually demanding work. Yet this esoteric knowledge quickly became accessible in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when Britain produced many leading mathematical physicists. In this book, Andrew Warwick shows how the education of these "masters of theory" led them to transform our understanding of everything from the flight of a boomerang to the structure of the universe. Warwick focuses on Cambridge University, where many of the best physicists trained. He begins by tracing the dramatic changes in undergraduate education there since the eighteenth century, especially the gradual emergence of the private tutor as the most important teacher of mathematics. Next he explores the material culture of mathematics instruction, showing how the humble pen and paper so crucial to this study transformed everything from classroom teaching to final examinations. Balancing their intense intellectual work with strenuous physical exercise, the students themselves—known as the "Wranglers"—helped foster the competitive spirit that drove them in the classroom and informed the Victorian ideal of a manly student. Finally, by investigating several historical "cases," such as the reception of Albert Einstein's special and general theories of relativity, Warwick shows how the production, transmission, and reception of new knowledge was profoundly shaped by the skills taught to Cambridge undergraduates. Drawing on a wealth of new archival evidence and illustrations, Masters of Theory examines the origins of a cultural tradition within which the complex world of theoretical physics was made commonplace.

What can you do with a degree in math? This book addresses this question with 125 career profiles written by people with degrees and backgrounds in mathematics. With job titles ranging from sports analyst to science writer to inventory specialist to CEO, the volume provides ample evidence that one really can do nearly anything with a degree in mathematics. These professionals share how their mathematical education shaped their career choices and how mathematics, or the skills acquired in a mathematics education, is used in their daily work. The degrees earned by the authors profiled here are a good mix of bachelors, masters, and PhDs. With 114 completely new profiles since the third edition, the careers featured within accurately reflect current trends in the job market. College mathematics faculty, high school teachers, and career counselors will all find this a useful resource. Career centers, mathematics departments, and student lounges should have a copy available for student browsing. In addition to the career profiles, the volume contains essays from career counseling professionals on the topics of job-searching, interviewing, and applying to graduate school.

The anthology is a collection of articles contiguous to the humanities written by renowned mathematicians of the twentieth century. The articles cover a variety of topics that, for want of a better name, shall be referred to as humanistic. An important criterion, thereby limiting the choice, is that the articles should be accessible to the literate reader who may or may not have technical knowledge of mathematics. The articles span roughly a century in time and a wide range in subject. They are by mathematicians acknowledged by their peers as outstanding creators whose work has added richly to the discipline. Each article is preceded by a brief biographical sketch of the author and a brief indication of the content. The material is accessible to a wide audience, lay as well as academic.

The original title for this work was “Mathematical Literacy, What Is It and Why You Need it”. The current title reflects that there can be no real learning in any subject, unless questions of who, what, when, where, why and how are raised in the minds of the learners. The book is not a mathematical text, and there are no assigned exercises or exams. It is written for reasonably intelligent and curious individuals, both those who value mathematics, aware of its many important applications and others who have been inappropriately exposed to mathematics, leading to indifference to the subject, fear and even loathing. These feelings are all consequences of meaningless presentations, drill, rote learning and being lost as the purpose of what is being studied. Mathematics education needs a radical reform. There is more than one way to accomplish this. Here the author presents his approach of wrapping mathematical ideas in a story. To learn one first must develop an interest in a problem and the curiosity to find how masters of mathematics have solved them. What is necessary to be mathematically literate? It’s not about solving algebraic equations or even making a geometric proof. These are valuable skills but not evidence of literacy. We often seek answers but learning to ask pertinent questions is the road to mathematical literacy. Here is the good news: new mathematical ideas have a way of finding applications. This is known as “the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics.”