Assignments for Week 11/12

R = Readings ._._. W = Writings

  1. (R) In our online textbook read the chapter on algebra and number theory. (You may find it helpful to have an elementary textbook on number theory handy for definitions and other background information.) Also read my "lecture" for the week (when available) (contains essentially the answer to one of the homework problems!).

  2. (RW) STANDING ASSIGNMENT EVERY WEEK: Read the parts (if any) of your "general history" book corresponding to this week's material. You are encouraged to mail in ("report to the class") anything interesting or important that you found in your reading that's not in the online material.

  3. (W) (For Wednesday, Nov. 19) From the exercises on algebra and (especially) number theory:

  4. (R) (optional) Fascinating article: T. Rothman, "Genius and biographers: The fictionalization of Evariste Galois", Amer. Math. Monthly 89, 84-106 (1982). Reinforces my initial warning not to believe everything you read about the history of mathematics, especially when written by nonprofessional historians. In particular, the statement that Galois "hurriedly [wrote] out his discoveries on group theory" the night before his duel is an exaggeration. (He had been writing manuscripts for several years and trying to get them published, but for a combination of reasons they had not been published. What he did that night was to write a summary in a letter to a friend and also to go through the manuscripts and annotate them. At least that's what Rothman -- who is not a professional historian either -- says.)

  5. (R) (optional) My lone foray into number theory pedagogy (contains the answer to one of the homework problems!)