 |
 |
|
Connecting with Math's Past |
DANBURY, Conn., March 29 -- Western Connecticut State University professor of mathematics Edward Sandifer has a proven formula for his students: Mathematics plus history equals appreciation.
"Math history can make math more enjoyable and easier to understand for students," Sandifer explains. "It takes on new meaning if they realize where theories came from and what was happening at that point in history when they were discovered.
"It also helps students who may not be able to relate to the subject of math," he remarks. "For example, some Latino students feel disconnected to math. But we can help make a connection by teaching about Spanish-colonial math and pointing to facts such as there were 11 math books published in Spanish in the New World before there were any in English, with the first being published in 1556, only 100 years after the printing press was invented."
 Sandifer's interest in mathematics began while he was a student at Dartmouth College. Although he tried other majors, he kept returning to math, graduating with 22 math courses and eight foreign language courses (which helped as he began reading historical mathematic books written in Latin, French, Spanish and German). He then went on receive his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he met his wife, Terry, who today is a professor of mathematics at Southern Connecticut State University.
"I found that I really enjoyed math because it has logic and symmetry that you can see with your mind, often in pictures," he explains. "And I like enjoying things by thinking about them, which I can do while pursuing my other love, running." An avid marathon runner, Sandifer has completed 31 Boston Marathons.
When it came time to choose a career in math, Sandifer found teaching to be a perfect match.
"After a successful tutoring job in the ninth grade, which I enjoyed and was successful at, I found that I really enjoyed teaching," notes Sandifer. "After college, teaching turned out to be the thing I could do to do math all day! I learned it was OK to be in front of an audience."
While teaching came naturally to Sandifer, his fascination with math history came several years into his teaching career, at the 100th meeting of the American Mathematical Society in Providence in 1988, Sandifer attended a session that included a talk by Joe Albree from Auburn University at Montgomery, on the history of American math textbooks. His interest in the topic was further stimulated in 1995, when he attended a three-week program at the Institute for the History of Mathematics and Its Uses in Teaching at American University in Washington, DC.
"American University invited me back for five more years, and I really became familiar with math history in America," Sandifer recalls. "I found that there were things I could do that they really appreciated."
Over the course of the next several years, Sandifer began studying the greatest minds in math history. His research took him through history, focusing on Richard Swineshead, Rafael Bombelli and René Descarte. But it was Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler who really captured Sandifer's interest.
"I felt a connection to Euler," Sandifer explains. "He enjoyed math like I do. A lot of people polish the happiness off of math, but Euler left the happiness. He published over 800 articles and books, covering a broad spectrum from astronomy to physics to math. Today, specialists in all of these fields have facts that can be related to Euler."
It was said that "Euler calculated without apparent effort, as men breathe...." and he was dubbed "Analysis Incarnate" by his peers for his incredible ability. Sandifer explains that Euler's discoveries nearly 300 years ago have hundreds of modern applications. For example, his uncovering the distinct patterns of buckling in a crushed can today apply to building design, showing architects where building supports need to be placed. His three laws of fluid flow (dynamics???) can be used in a variety of applications ranging from the bloodstream to hoses to rivers. He designed the shape of a gear tooth to minimize friction and wear, created the first centrifugal pump and designed the first paddle wheel boat, which was built 60 years after his design was completed.
Sandifer is busy passing on his knowledge by co-authoring a two-volume biography of Euler, the first ever to be written in English. He is secretary of The Euler Society, an organization that explores current studies in the mathematical sciences that build upon Euler's thought and promotes translations of selections from Euler's writings into English. In addition, he writes a regular column on The Mathematical Association of America's website entitled "How Euler Did It." Sandifer also has an extensive collection of mathematics history books, including one that dates back to 1499 and several from the 16th and 17th centuries.
"Whenever we hold a meeting of ARITHMOS [an organization which reads and discusses math from original sources], I always win at show and tell," Sandifer exclaims.
Finally, Sandifer is one of the founders and executive office of The Euler Project, which was conceived in the summer of 1997 at the Institute for the History of Mathematics and its Uses in Teaching. Seven of the participants in the institute expressed the desire to use the works of Euler in teaching their mathematics classes and their frustration that so few of the works of the great master are available in English. The Euler Project intends to translate papers and passages from longer works that might be useful as historical resources in teaching undergraduate and graduate mathematics. Ultimately, the project hopes to produce an annotated volume in time for the Euler Tricentennial Celebrations in 2007. -xxx- |
|
|
|