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Pathways from the Past: Classroom-Ready Materials for Using History to Teach Mathematics - About the Authors

Author(s): 
William P. Berlinghoff and Fernando Gouvêa (Colby College)

Bill Berlinghoff was educated at Holy Cross, Boston College, and Wesleyan University, where he received his Ph.D. in mathematics. He began his teaching career at the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York, was Professor of Mathematics at Southern Connecticut State University, and was Visiting Professor of Mathematics at Colby College in Waterville, ME. He regularly taught a mathematics course for liberal arts students that drew heavily on historical development of the subject. In addition to Math Through the Ages and Pathways from the Past, Bill is author and co-author of several college texts for liberal arts mathematics, including A Mathematics Sampler (5th edition, Ardsley House, 2001). He was also a Senior Writer for MATH Connections, a Standards-based secondary school core curriculum.

Fernando Gouvêa was born in Brazil and educated at the University of São Paulo and at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in mathematics. Fernando is Carter Professor of Mathematics at Colby College, where he teaches, among other things, a course on the history of mathematics. He was a participant in the Institute for the History of Mathematics and its Use in Teaching, organized by the Mathematical Association of America. Fernando was the editor of MAA Focus from 1999 to 2010. He has also served as editor of MAA Reviews, the MAA's comprehensive online book review service, and of MAA's Carus Mathematical Monographs series. In addition to Math Through the Ages and Pathways from the Past, Fernando wrote p-adic Numbers: An Introduction, soon to appear in a third edition, the MAA Guide to Groups, Rings, and Fields, and other books and papers.

William P. Berlinghoff and Fernando Gouvêa (Colby College), "Pathways from the Past: Classroom-Ready Materials for Using History to Teach Mathematics - About the Authors," Convergence (June 2020)