Instructor:
- James King
- C440-Padelford
- 543-1915,
- king@math.washington.edu
- Office hours: Tuesday, 2:30-3:30 or before or after
- class or other times by arrangement.
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I have been teaching math a long time, but this is the very first time that I
have missed the first day (which is the same as a whole week!) of a class. I
regret this very much, but I must attend some committee meetings at the joint
meeting of the Math Association of America and the American Math Society in
Baltimore.
I am very grateful to Art Mabbott for agreeing to preside over this first
session of the class. He will no doubt set a standard that I will have a hard
time living up to.
If you want to reach me before next week's class, email is best, but a phone
message should work also. I will probably be able to read email while in
Baltimore.
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The purpose of this course is to provide a chance to explore some "big ideas"
in geometry that are fascinating to think about -- dimension, infinity, shape
and curvature. Many of these ideas are very important in mathematics and its
applications, but they are also fun to think about. They also appear in places
outside mathematics, in art and philosophy, in science fiction and in religion
and mysticism.
This should be fun, but it also should be a good mental workout for stretching
math muscles at whatever place you are in math.
I believe this is terrific background for teachers to include a wider context
for geometry that they can share with their students. It seems to me that kids
are at least as much motivated by cool and exciting ideas as by the utilitarian
applications of math, as important as they are (are teenagers really that
excited about the world of work that awaits them?).
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I am hopeful that this course will work for anyone who is interested in putting
in some work thinking about math (and who is not discomfited if some unfamiliar
background gets tossed into the conversation occasionally).
The topics of this course can be engaged in many ways and at many levels. I
hope you will talk with me if you feel that some material is too advanced or
too elementary; we should be able to find something to work on at whatever
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This course will be informal, collegial and hopefully enjoyable, but it is
aimed at adults who will get satisfaction from doing some serious work.
- In
class
- An important part of the class will be participation in in-class explorations
and discussions. This will be difficult to make up. Therefore, regular class
attendance will be required (with the understanding that once or twice there
may be some unavoidable impediment to attending).
-
Weekly
writing assignment (via email)
- Each week there will be a writing assignment to be emailed in no later than
Tuesday evening.
-
Other
weekly assignments
- Each week, there will be a reading assignment (which may be the basis for the
writing assignment). The reading assignment may involve finding something in
other sources as well as reading in the texts. There will often be an
assignment to build a model, draw a figure, or carry out an experiment.
-
Major
project
- Each student in the class will be expected to develop a project over the course
of the quarter, culminating in a paper and a presentation (it is possible to
include models, photos or video, Web pages or other media besides the paper).
It would be desirable for the project to include some experiment or activity or
materials that would give students or others some insight into the topic.
The project topic should be something within the rather broad scope of topics
of this course.
- Project
dates
- You will be expected to choose a topic and submit it the Tuesday before the
fourth meeting of the course (you can change your mind later).
Each week, as part of your email assignment, you will send in a journal or an
update of what you have learned about your topic that week -- new sources,
ideas for explorations, etc.
The projects will be presented during the last week of class (and possibly exam
week). Depending on enrollment, we will need more than the usual class time,
so we can use the final regular class meeting and then either the exam time the
next week or else find an additional or extended time that is agreeable to the
class.
-
Tests
- The management reserves the right to give some quizzes or even major tests, but
it is hoped that everyone will demonstrate sufficiently the learning of
essential points by the assignments and the class discussions, so that no tests
will be necessary.
There will be no final exam, but the final exam time may be used for
some of the presentations, unless another mutually convenient time is arranged.
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Grades will be based on
- Weekly
Assignments
- Do all the weekly assignments. If you can't figure out an occasional problem,
this is OK, but make some record of what you tried.
- Class
Participation and Preparedness
- Do the reading and study and learn key ideas.
- Project
- Keep up with the weekly progress reports as well as producing the final product.
- Extra
Credit Problems
- Suggestions for extra credit problems will be made from time to time. For an
Honors grade, some work beyond the standard assignment is expected.