HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS

PREREQUISITE: MATH2031
A survey course in the development of modern mathematics. Beginning with the rudimentary mathematical concepts developed in prehistoric times, mathematics grew sometimes slowly and sometimes rapidly with the insights of various cultures. In this course we trace this development through ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, classical Greece, Arabic and Hindu cultures of the Dark and Middle Ages, the European Renaissance and on into the modern times. Special attention will be paid to major developments such as the emergence of mathematics as an organized, reasoned and independent discipline in Classical Greece; the emergence and development of major areas of mathematics such as of algebra, trigonometry, productive geometry, calculus, analytic geometry infinite series, non-Euclidean geometry; and how developments in mathematical thought have shaped the modern world.