Knowledge: history

See Also:

• kids and teens → school time → math → mathematicians
• kids and teens → school time → social studies → history

Links

The Mystery Of The Aleph 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/mysteryaleph.htm

This article from the "Washington Post" covers the development of the concept of infinity, from the fifth to the second century B.C., and includes the main findings of Archimedes and the Pythagorean school. [Requires free registration.]

MacTutor History of Mathematics 
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/

An extensive and searchable archive covering famous people and concepts, as well as describing the development of mathematics in various cultures.

History of Mathematics 
http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/

An overview of the subject and a famous 1900 speech describing the main mathematical problems. Includes a chronological list of mathematicians and their work.

Famous Problems in the History of Mathematics 
http://mathforum.org/isaac/mathhist.html

Describes what mathematicians have worked on, from ancient times to the present. Includes problems suitable for middle school and high school math students, with links to solutions.

Ancient Geometry 
http://members.aol.com/bbyars1/contents.html

Presenting an overview from ancient times to the present day, including descriptions of the discovery of pi and the origins of trigonometry.

The History of Mathematicians and Physicists 
http://education.nmsu.edu/webquest/wq/math/mathpyswq.htm

Outlines a Webquest for studying the history of contributions to both these fields, and includes resources for solving the task.

History of Mathematics 
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/

Describes the earliest known uses of common words and symbols, as well as explaining some of the ambiguous terms that might be encountered at high school level.

Babylonian Math 
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/babylonianmath/

This site was created to help people understand the Babylonian math system better.

Why Do We Study Calculus? 
http://math.vanderbilt.edu/~schectex/courses/whystudy.html

Explains, in everyday language, the developments in astronomy, math, and physics that contributed to the discovery of differential calculus and its relationship to area formulas.

Egyptian Mathematical Papyri 
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/Ancient-Africa/mad_ancient_egyptpapyrus.html

Includes a description of each written document, as well as some sample problems from the Rhind, Moscow and other papyri. These ancient written works were created between 1900 and 1800 BC.

Arabic Mathematics: Forgotten Brilliance? 
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/HistTopics/Arabic_mathematics.html

Explains contributions of Arabian mathematicians by translating early Greek texts, developing early algebraic ideas, number theory and astronomical calculations. Includes information about key people during this time period.

Earliest Uses of Mathematical Symbols 
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathsym.html

Discusses first known appearances of common expressions, such as operations, variables and trigonometric functions.

History of Math Notes 
http://www.math.sfu.ca/histmath/math380notes/math380.html

Timeline for Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Chinese, Indian, Arabic, and European mathematical achievements. Includes summary of influences by important people in the field.

History of Mathematics in Africa 
http://www.saxakali.com/COLOR_ASP/historymaf.htm

Explains the early development of mathematical concepts in astronomical calculations, number systems, calendars and climate studies.

Mesopotamian Mathematics 
http://it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/

Discusses the development of numbers, addition tables, exercise problems and solutions for quadratic equations in one of the oldest known civilizations. Covers the period from 8000 B.C. to 364 A.D.

Math History Timeline - Pre-historic and Ancient Times 
http://lahabra.seniorhigh.net/pages/teachers/pages/math/timeline/MpreAndAncient.html

La Hababra high school page includes dates related to important developments in the field of mathematics, which occurred from approximately 30,000 B.C. to 500 A.D. Features an accompanying timeline for general historic events and photos.

Mathematics History 
http://library.thinkquest.org/22584/

Traces the development of math throughout the ages. Also includes biographies of famous mathematicians.

Maths is Good for You 
http://www.mathsisgoodforyou.com/

Contains information on famous mathematicians, theorems, and topics.

Pre-Computer History of Pi 
http://personal.bgsu.edu/~carother/pi/Pi2.html

Explains the early methods of approximating this famous constant, which is used in measuring the area of a circle. Page includes the dates and names of people who were influential in improving these calculations.

Counting to Infinity 
http://www.scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/Math/infinity.html

Introduction to infinity including the origins of the sign for infinity and pictures.

Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics 
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathword.html

Shows who coined a wide variety of commonly used terms. Organized by first letter.

History of Mathematics 
http://www.math.sfu.ca/histmath/

Research project by the students in the department of Mathematics. Includes region, timeline, people and topics.

Mathographies 
http://scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/Math/MathFolks.html

Some biographical sketches of mathematicians, ancient and modern.

Thoughts on Ancient Egyptian Mathematics 
http://www.iusb.edu/~journal/2000/zahrt.html

A paper describing the math used in ancient Egypt.

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