Syllabus: in pdf format. You also might want to look at the following handout from
Prof. Leibowitz's math 223 class, spring 2004.
Here is
a link to Euclid's elements, from David Joyce. Just in case you wanted to
read the original.
Projects:
Here are some general rules. You may work in groups of up to 4 people. Also,
please limit your report to 3 pages or less. Be sure to include some
references.
- First project, due 1-31: Form a hypothesis about why the ratios
of your finger bones satisfy the golden ratio, and support that hypothesis.
Here are some articles to get you started: article 1,
article 2. You might want to check out the references
in these.
- Second project, due 3-4: Find three more proofs of the Pythagorean
theorem. You have to find these proofs and write them up very, very
carefully. (I'm going to try to find as many gaps as I can!) You can't use
the two proofs I'm giving in class (the proof with the two squares and
the scaling proof).
- Third project, due 4-22. You can work in
groups of up to four again. No page limit.
Exam materials