Mathematics in Society and History PDF Download

Author: S. Restivo
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401129444
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
This is the first book by a sociologist devoted exclusively to a general sociology of mathematics. The author provides examples of different ways of thinking about mathematics sociologically. The survey of mathematical traditions covers ancient China, the Arabic-Islamic world, India, and Europe. Following the leads of classical social theorists such as Emile Durkheim, Restivo develops the idea that mathematical concepts and ideas are collective representations, and that it is mathematical communities that create mathematics, not individual mathematicians. The implications of the sociology of mathematics, and especially of pure mathematics, for a sociology of mind are also explored. In general, the author's objective is to explore, conjecture, suggest, and stimulate in order to introduce the sociological perspective on mathematics, and to broaden and deepen the still narrow, shallow path that today carries the sociology of mathematics. This book will interest specialists in the philosophy, history, and sociology of mathematics, persons interested in mathematics education, students of science and society, and people interested in current developments in the social and cultural analysis of science and mathematics.

Author: David Lippman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781479276530
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Math in Society is a survey of contemporary mathematical topics, appropriate for a college-level topics course for liberal arts major, or as a general quantitative reasoning course.This book is an open textbook; it can be read free online at http://www.opentextbookstore.com/mathinsociety/. Editable versions of the chapters are available as well.

Author: Wolfgang König
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783037196649
Category : MATHEMATICS
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
The ubiquity and importance of mathematics in our complex society is generally not in doubt. However, even a scientifically interested layman would be hard pressed to point out aspects of our society where contemporary mathematical research is essential. Most popular examples are finance, engineering, wheather and industry, but the way mathematics comes into play is widely unknown in the public. And who thinks of application fields like biology, encryption, architecture, or voting systems? This volume comprises a number of success stories of mathematics in our society - important areas being shaped by cutting edge mathematical research. The authors are eminent mathematicians with a high sense for public presentation, addressing scientifically interested laymen as well as professionals in mathematics and its application disciplines.

Author: Bharath Sriraman
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1607522187
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 502

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Book Description
The word "critical" in the title of this collection has three meanings, all of which are relevant. One meaning, as applied to a situation or problem, is "at a point of crisis". A second meaning is "expressing adverse or disapproving comments or judgments". A third is related to the verb "to critique", meaning "to analyze the merits and faults of". The authors contributing to this book pose challenging questions, from multiple perspectives, about the roles of mathematics in society and the implications for education. Traditional reasons for teaching mathematics include: preparing a new generation of mathematics researchers and a cadre of technically competent users of mathematics; training students to think logically; and because mathematics is as much part of cultural heritage as literature or music. These reasons remain valid, though open to critique, but a deeper analysis is required that recognizes the roles of mathematics in framing many aspects of contemporary society, that will connect mathematics education to the lived experiences of students, their communities, and society in general, and that acknowledges the global ethical responsibilities of mathematicians and mathematics educators. The book is organized in four sections (1) Mathematics education: For what and why? (2) Globalization and cultural diversity, (3) Mathematics, education, and society and (4) Social justice in, and through, mathematics education The chapters address fundamental issues such as the relevance of school mathematics in people's lives; creating a sense of agency for the field of mathematics education, and redefining the relationship between mathematics as discipline, mathematics as school subject and mathematics as part of people's lives.

Author: Gizem Karaali
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470449269
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Mathematics for Social Justice offers a collection of resources for mathematics faculty interested in incorporating questions of social justice into their classrooms. The book begins with a series of essays from instructors experienced in integrating social justice themes into their pedagogy; these essays contain political and pedagogical motivations as well as nuts-and-bolts teaching advice. The heart of the book is a collection of fourteen classroom-tested modules featuring ready-to-use activities and investigations for the college mathematics classroom. The mathematical tools and techniques used are relevant to a wide variety of courses including college algebra, math for the liberal arts, calculus, differential equations, discrete mathematics, geometry, financial mathematics, and combinatorics. The social justice themes include human trafficking, income inequality, environmental justice, gerrymandering, voting methods, and access to education. The volume editors are leaders of the national movement to include social justice material into mathematics teaching. Gizem Karaali is Associate Professor of Mathematics at Pomona College. She is one of the founding editors of The Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, and an associate editor for The Mathematical Intelligencer and Numeracy ; she also serves on the editorial board of the MAA's Carus Mathematical Monographs. Lily Khadjavi is Associate Professor of Mathematics at Loyola Marymount University and is a past co-chair of the Infinite Possibilities Conference. She has served on the boards of Building Diversity in Science, the Barbara Jordan-Bayard Rustin Coalition, and the Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus.

Author: Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 9780821828991
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Now is a time of great interest in mathematics education. Student performance, curriculum, and teacher education are the subjects of much scrutiny and debate. Studies on the mathematical knowledge of prospective and practicing U. S. teachers suggest ways to improve their mathematical educations. It is often assumed that because the topics covered in K-12 mathematics are so basic, they should be easy to teach. However, research in mathematics education has shown that to teach well,substantial mathematical understanding is necessary--even to teach whole-number arithmetic. Prospective teachers need a solid understanding of mathematics so that they can teach it as a coherent, reasoned activity and communicate its elegance and power. This volume gathers and reports current thinkingon curriculum and policy issues affecting the mathematical education of teachers. It considers two general themes: (1) the intellectual substance in school mathematics; and (2) the special nature of the mathematical knowledge needed for teaching. The underlying study was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The mathematical knowledge needed for teaching is quite different from that required by students pursuing other mathematics-related professions. Material here is gearedtoward stimulating efforts on individual campuses to improve programs for prospective teachers. This report contains general recommendations for all grades and extensive discussions of the specific mathematical knowledge required for teaching elementary, middle, and high-school grades, respectively.It is also designed to marshal efforts in the mathematical sciences community to back important national initiatives to improve mathematics education and to expand professional development opportunities. The book will be an important resource for mathematics faculty and other parties involved in the mathematical education of teachers. Information for our distributors: This series is published in cooperation with the Mathematical Association of America.

Author: Diana Davis
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470461226
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
This book is for anyone who wishes to illustrate their mathematical ideas, which in our experience means everyone. It is organized by material, rather than by subject area, and purposefully emphasizes the process of creating things, including discussions of failures that occurred along the way. As a result, the reader can learn from the experiences of those who came before, and will be inspired to create their own illustrations. Topics illustrated within include prime numbers, fractals, the Klein bottle, Borromean rings, tilings, space-filling curves, knot theory, billiards, complex dynamics, algebraic surfaces, groups and prime ideals, the Riemann zeta function, quadratic fields, hyperbolic space, and hyperbolic 3-manifolds. Everyone who opens this book should find a type of mathematics with which they identify. Each contributor explains the mathematics behind their illustration at an accessible level, so that all readers can appreciate the beauty of both the object itself and the mathematics behind it.

Author: Paul Ernest
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1681232618
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Mathematics is traditionally seen as the most neutral of disciplines, the furthest removed from the arguments and controversy of politics and social life. However, critical mathematics challenges these assumptions and actively attacks the idea that mathematics is pure, objective, and value?neutral. It argues that history, society, and politics have shaped mathematics—not only through its applications and uses but also through molding its concepts, methods, and even mathematical truth and proof, the very means of establishing truth. Critical mathematics education also attacks the neutrality of the teaching and learning of mathematics, showing how these are value?laden activities indissolubly linked to social and political life. Instead, it argues that the values of openness, dialogicality, criticality towards received opinion, empowerment of the learner, and social/political engagement and citizenship are necessary dimensions of the teaching and learning of mathematics, if it is to contribute towards democracy and social justice. This book draws together critical theoretic contributions on mathematics and mathematics education from leading researchers in the field. Recurring themes include: The natures of mathematics and critical mathematics education, issues of epistemology and ethics; Ideology, the hegemony of mathematics, ethnomathematics, and real?life education; Capitalism, globalization, politics, social class, habitus, citizenship and equity. The book demonstrates the links between these themes and the discipline of mathematics, and its critical teaching and learning. The outcome is a groundbreaking collection unified by a shared concern with critical perspectives of mathematics and education, and of the ways they impact on practice.

Author: Martin Grötschel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540852212
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
Discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science are closely linked research areas with strong impacts on applications and various other scientific disciplines. Both fields deeply cross fertilize each other. One of the persons who particularly contributed to building bridges between these and many other areas is László Lovász, a scholar whose outstanding scientific work has defined and shaped many research directions in the last 40 years. A number of friends and colleagues, all top authorities in their fields of expertise and all invited plenary speakers at one of two conferences in August 2008 in Hungary, both celebrating Lovász’s 60th birthday, have contributed their latest research papers to this volume. This collection of articles offers an excellent view on the state of combinatorics and related topics and will be of interest for experienced specialists as well as young researchers.

Author: Maurice Mashaal
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 9780821839676
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
The name Bourbaki is known to every mathematician. This book presents accounts of the origins of Bourbaki, their meetings, their seminars, and the members themselves. It also discusses the lasting influence that Bourbaki has had on mathematics, through both the Elements and the Seminaires.