Historical Mathematician Project

Project Due Date:

Introduction:
 People throughout history have had a passion for mathematics.
 You will use the Internet and other traditional sources to research historically significant
mathematicians, write a paper, and creatively present research in class.

Student Project Guidelines:

1) PowerPoint Document: 7-10 slide research presentation that covers these areas:
a) Title Page
b) Early Life
c) Education and Mathematical work (including the effect on our world and thought)
d) Later Life
e) Bibliography of all sources used
f) Photo or drawing of the Mathematician
g) The research paper may include summaries of stories read in books.
2) Presentation: a 5-10 minute presentation.

Evaluation:

 The PowerPoint document will be graded on neatness, sentence structure, spelling, grammar
and completeness.
 The presentation will be graded on creativity, visuals, content, length and clarity of speech.

Possible Resources:

 Mathematicians: http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/
 Women: http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/women.htm
 Math Facts and Fun: http://www.windham.k12.me.us/thirdgrd/math.htm
 Math Quotations: http://math.furman.edu/~mwoodard/mquot.html
 Math Forum: http://forum.swarthmore.edu
 WomenII: http://www.cs.yale.edu/HTML/YALE/CS/HyPlans/tap/past-women.html
 Website relevant to the History of Mathematics:
http://www.math.twsu.edu/faculty/richardson/
 Biographies of Women Mathematicians site is:
http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/women.htm
 History of Mathematics Timeline http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/time.html
 AIMS Historical Figures Books: Volumes I, II, III: These books have lessons to do that
relate to the mathematician.
 Mathematicians Are People Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, Volumes I
and II

Copyright © 1998 Kings County Office of Education

List of Possible Names to Research

 Agnesi, Maria  Khayyam, Omar

 Archimedes  Kovalevsky, Sonya
 Aristotle  Kowa, Seki
 al'Khwarizmi, Abu Ja'far  Latimer, Lewis Howard
Muhammad ibn Musa  Lovelace, Ada Byron
 Banneker, Benjamin  Lovelace, Ada Byron again
 Banneker, Benjamin again  Matzeliger, Jan Ernst
 Bolyai, Janos  Morgan, Garrett
 Carver, George Washington  Newton, Sir Issaac
 Carver, George Washington  Noether, Emmy
again  Nunez, Pedro
 Cavalieri, Bonaventura  Pascal, Blaise
 Descartes, Rene  Pythagoras
 Drew, Charles Richard  Raman, Chandrasekhra
 du Chatelet, Gabrielle Emilie Venkata
 Eratosthenes  Ramanujan, Srinivasa
 Euclid  Russell, Bertrand
 Euler, Leonhard  Shih-Chieh, Chu
 de Fermat, Pierre  Somerville, Mary Fairfax
 Gauss, Carl Friedrich  Taniyama, Yutaka
 Germain, Sophie  Thales
 Granville, Evelyn Boyd  Turing, Alan
 Gregory, James  Viete, Francois
 Hopper, Grace  Wallis, John
 Hypatia  Woods, Granville T.
 Hypatia again
 Just, Ernest  Young, Grace Chisholm
 Just, Ernest again

Copyright © 1998 Kings County Office of Education

 HISTORICAL MATHEMATICIAN PROJECT

TEACHER EVALUATION FORM

Student Name:

Historical Mathematician:

A. Presentation
Creativity (5) _____
Length (5) _____
Clarity of Speech(5) _____

B. PowerPoint Document
Title Page (10) _____
Early Life (10) _____
Education (10) _____
Mathematical Work (10) _____
Later Life (10) _____
Bibliography (10) _____
Photo or Drawing (10) _____
Spelling, grammer and sentence structure(15) _____

Total Score: ______

General Comments:

Copyright © 1998 Kings County Office of Education