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What's in Convergence? - Contents of Volume 19 - 2022

Editors:  Amy Ackerberg-Hastings, Janet Heine Barnett

Associate Editors:  Paul Bialek (through 1/31/22), Eugene Boman, Ximena Catepillan, Sloan Despeaux (through 1/31/22), Joel Haack (through 7/21/22), Toke Knudsen, Stacy Langton, Betty Mayfield, Michael Molinsky, Adam Parker, Andrew Perry, Adrian Rice, Amy Shell-Gellasch, Erik R. Tou, Laura Turner

Founding Editors: Victor Katz, Frank Swetz

Articles

Need the Area of a Triangle? The Pope Can Help! by Betty Mayfield
Gerbert d’Aurillac on finding the area of an equilateral triangle, with exploration activities for students. (posted 11/28/2022)

El Gabinete de Maravillas Matemáticas de Pantas: Imágenes e Historia de las Matemáticas, por Frank J. Swetz; traducido por Ximena Catepillán con la ayuda de Samuel Navarro
El autor discute cómo motivar e involucrar a sus estudiantes mediante el uso de imágenes, especialmente las de objetos históricos, manuscritos y textos, en la enseñanza de las matemáticas. Traducido al español de un artículo de Convergence publicado en 2015, “Pantas’ Cabinet of Mathematical Wonders: Images and the History of Mathematics.” (posted 08/07/2022)

Do Teachers Need to Incorporate the History of Mathematics in Their Teaching? by Po-Hung Liu
The author discusses five reasons for using the history of mathematics in its teaching and provides additional references written since the original publication of the article. (posted 06/06/2022)

HOM SIGMAA 2022 Student Paper Contest Winners
Read the winning papers from the 19th annual edition of this contest: “The Assumptive Attitudes of Western Scholars Regarding the Contributions of Mathematics from India: Assessing yukti-s from the Yuktibhāṣā of Jyeṣṭhadeva” by Rye Ledford (first prize) and “Estimations of \(\pi\): The Kerala School of Astronomy and Mathematics, the Gregory-Leibniz Series, and the Eurocentrism of Math History” by Sarah Szafranski (second prize). (posted 06/06/2022)

An Ancient Egyptian Mathematical Photo Album – Hieroglyph Numerals and More, by Cynthia J. Huffman
Photographs of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in authentic contexts that instructors can use when teaching numeration systems. (posted 4/9/2022)

Kepler and the Rhombic Dodecahedron, by Roberto Cardil
Resources for sharing Kepler's fascinating studies of the rhombic dodecahedron with students. (posted 3/19/2022)

The High School Mathematics Curriculum—What Can We Learn from History? by Robert Reys and Barbara Reys
The authors review several of the major programs for reform in American mathematics education that appeared between 1894 and 2010 and conclude that, while calls for change have been constant, the full implementation of different approaches is much more difficult to achieve. (posted 3/05/2022)

Reflections on Chinese Numeration Systems, by Frank J. Swetz
Recommends ancient Chinese rod numerals to the instructors of preservice elementary teachers as an alternative place-value numeration system for helping students understand the structures and operations of arithmetic. Includes historical descriptions and classroom suggestions. (posted 2/20/2022)

Building a Book: HathiTrust, Ancestry.com, Serendipity, and Lifetime Interests, by David Lindsay Roberts
Reveals how personal knowledge, changes in historical research methods, and unexpected discoveries came together in the preparation of a book on the history of American mathematics, and suggests how the lessons learned could be incorporated into history of mathematics and other courses. (posted 1/22/2022)

Ongoing Series

Quotations in Context, by Michael Molinsky
A series of columns that explores the origins and meanings of various quotations about mathematics and mathematicians.

HoM Toolbox, or Historiography and Methodology for Mathematicians
A series that guides readers through the basic principles and theoretical approaches for researching and writing the history of mathematics.

Keys to Mathematical Treasure Chests
A series that offers examples of how online databases of mathematical objects can be mined to unlock the collections that they preserve for use in research and teaching.

Teaching and Learning the Trigonometric Functions through Their Origins, by Daniel E. Otero
A series of curricular units based on primary source texts for use in teaching and learning trigonometry.

A Series of Mini-projects from TRansforming Instruction in Undergraduate Mathematics via Primary Historical Sources
A collection of student-ready projects for use in teaching standard topics from across the undergraduate curriculum.

Mathematical Treasures

Mathematical Treasures, by Frank J. Swetz

Index to Mathematical Treasures Collection: Images of historical texts and objects from libraries, museums, and individuals around the world for use in your classroom!

Mathematical Treasures added during 2022:

"What's in Convergence? - Contents of Volume 19 - 2022," Convergence (January 2022)