Plimpton 322

Abdulla Eid


Assistant Professor of Mathematics

University of Bahrain, Bahrain Teachers College

Welcome to History of Mathematics course webpage

The official course syllabus can be downloaded from here.

Course Description

This course will allow the students to explore the dynamic nature of Mathematics throughout the history and its increasing role in social, cultural, and economic development as well as its impact on the society. It will help the students to gain a rich understanding of the origin of mathematical concepts, chronological and topical development of Mathematics. It requires students to understand the contributions of historical figures, including individuals of various racial, ethnic, gender and national groups and their discoveries that affected the course of civilization. The course is divided into two parts, first we will study the mathematics in the ancient civilization and in the second part, we will study the impact of mathematics in today' world through applications of mathematics.

Course Information

Instructor Information

  • Instructor Name: Dr. Abdulla Eid
  • Office: S22-206
  • Phone: (+973) 1743 – 7278
  • Office Hours: Sundays and Wednesdays 7:30 AM – 9:55 AM
  • Email: aeid (at) uob.edu.bh

Textbook

References

  1. Jeff Suzuki, A History of Mathematics, 2002, 1st Edition, Prentice Hall, ISBN–13: 978-0130190741.
  2. COMAP, For all Practical Purposes: Mathematical Literacy in Today’s World, 2013, 9th Edition, W. H. Freeman, ISBN–13: 978-1429254823.
  3. Edward Frenkel, Math and Love, 2014, 1st Edition, Basic Books, ISBN–13: 978-0465064953.
  4. William Berlinghoff and Fernando Gouvea, Math through the Ages: A Gentle History for Teachers and Others, 2003, 2nd Edition, The Mathematical Association of America: Oxton House Publishing, ISBN–13: 978-0883857366.

Class Notes

Assesment

Your final course grade will be based on two mid-term exams, weekly quizzes, participation, e-portfolio, and final research project. The grade distribution is as follows:

  • Quizzes: 15%
  • Mid-term Exam 1: 20%
  • Mid-term Exam 2: 25%
  • Participation: 5%
  • e-portfolio: 5%
  • Final Project: 30%

You can check your grades by logging in to the course webpage on Moodle. Also, you will receive on your Email your grades once I enter them on the system (Check the Junk/Spam box!).

Exam Scedules

Quizzes

  • Quiz 1 on Wednesday March 4, 2015. Egyptian and Babylonian mathematics. Solution.
  • Quiz 2 on Wednesday March 11, 2015. Greek and Chinese mathematics. Solution.
  • Quiz 3 on Wednesday March 25, 2015. Indian and Islamic mathematics. Solution.
  • Quiz 4 on Wednesday April 8, 2015. Mathematics in Europe. Solution.
  • Quiz 5 on Wednesday April 15, 2015. Contibution of Riemann and Gauss from the reading assignment 3; international banking system, and geometric progression (geometric sequences). Solution.
  • Quiz 6 on Wednesday April 22, 2015. Simple and compound interests, Annuity and Amortization. Solution.
  • Quiz 7 on Wednesday May 6, 2015. Voting Systems. Solution.
  • Quiz 8 on Wednesday May 13, 2015. Properties of Voting Systems, modular arithmetic, and Caesar Cipher. Solution.
  • Quiz 9 on Sunday May 31, 2015. Hamming Codes. Solution.

Course Final Project

You will need to do one research project in a topic from your choice (with approval from the instructor) and one final presentation on that topic. More information can be found here. The oral exam schedule can be found here.

Course Diaries

To download the class lecture notes as well as to know what we have covered in every class, please click here.

Course Policies

Academic Integrity

Cheating and plagiarism are strictly prohibited and will result in serious consequences. In particular, cheating or plagiarism may result in an ”F” for the course and be reported to the SAES for further action. Using of any outside materials, looking at another student’s exam or using cell phones might be considered as a cheating (whether or not you get benefit from it). For more information, please refer to the student handbook.

The Classroom Decorum

The classroom environment should be conductive to learning by all. please no chit-chat talks during the class. Cell phones and all electronic devices should be turned off and put away during the class.