Dr. Z.'s Office Hours: Mondays and Thursdays, 9:10-10:10am, Hill 704.
This class fulfills the writing requirement of Rutgers. An important part of writing is reading.
I am not a history professor, and will not cover any of the historical narrative in class.
You are expected to read it on your own. One half of each homework assignment consists of
summarizing (in one or two pages, in your own words, and own handwriting) each assigned reading portion.
During the quizzes and exams, you can look at your notebook (but no books allowed, neither, of course, the internet).
The other half of each homework assignment will be to perform an algorithm or proof presented
in class. In each class we will decide together what historically (and mathematically) important algorithm or proof
to cover, andI will assign homework (about the studied algorithm or proof) in class (and post it on-line after class).
The quizzes and exams will also be half "history" (and you are welcome to consult your hand-written notebook)
and one half "real math" (inspired by the history), that will be covered in class.
Homework will be assigned, based on what we did in class, each time, the night after each class.
Schedule
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Thurs., Jan. 19: Introduction and
Diagnostic Test
[Here are the
Solutions
(and important comments)]
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Monday, Jan. 23: Chapter I (pp. 1-11)
homework 0 (due Feb. 2) [read and understand Chapter I, summarize it]
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Thurs., Jan. 26: Chapter II, sections 1-3 (pp. 13-23)
Egyptian Fractions
homework 1 (due Feb. 2)
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Monday, Jan. 30: Chapter II, sections 4-5 (pp. 23-31)
homework 2 (due Feb. 9)
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Thurs, Feb. 2: Chapter II, sections 6-7 (pp. 31- 36)
Magic Squares
homework 3 (due Feb. 9)
Quiz 1 (on hw1)
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Monday, Feb. 6: Chapter III, sections 1-4 (pp. 39-50)
Triangular Number
Zeno
homework 4 (due Feb. 16)
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Thurs, Feb. 9: Chapter III, sections 4-7 (pp. 50-61)
homework 5 (due Feb. 16)
Quiz 2 (on hw2 and hw3)
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Monday, Feb. 13: Chapter III, sections 8-15 (pp. 61-80)
homework 6 (due Feb. 23)
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Thurs, Feb. 16: Chapter IV (pp. 83-96)
homework 7 (due Feb. 23)
Quiz 3 (on hw4 and hw5)
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Monday, Feb. 20: Chapter V, sections 1-6 (pp. 98- 109)
homework 8 (due Mar. 2)
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Thurs, Feb. 23: Chapter V, sections 7-9 (pp. 109- 121)
homework 9 (due Mar. 2)
Quiz 4 (on hw6 and hw7)
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Monday, Feb. 27: Chapter VI, sections 1-4 (pp. 125-141)
homework 10 (due Mar. 9)
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Thurs, March 2: Chapter VI, sections 5-7 (pp. 141-154)
homework 11 (due Mar. 9)
Quiz 5 (on hw8 and hw9)
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Monday, March 6: Chapter VI, section 8 (pp. 154-160)
homework 12 (due Mar. 23)
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Thurs, March 9:
Chapter VII, sections 1-4 (pp. 163-175)
homework 13 (due Mar. 23)
Quiz 6 (on hw10 and hw11)
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Monday, March 13: Spring Break (No Class)
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Thurs, March 16: Spring Break (No Class)
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Monday, March 20: REVIEW
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Thurs, March 23: Exam I (on hw1-hw13)
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Monday, March 27: Chapter VII, sections 5-7 (pp. 175- 186)
homework 14 (due April 6)
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Thurs, March 30: Chapter VII, sections 8-10 (pp. 186-192)
homework 15 (due April 6)
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Monday, April 3:
Chapter VII, section 11 (pp. 192-199)
homework 16 (due April 13)
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Thurs, April 6:
Chapter VIII, sections 1-3 (pp. 201-209)
homework 17 (due April 13)
Quiz 7 (on hw14 and hw15)
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Monday, April 10:
Chapter VIII, sections 4-6 (pp. 209-219)
homework 18 (due April 20)
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Thurs, April 13:
Chapter VIII, sections 7-8 (pp. 219-226)
homework 19 (due April 20)
Quiz 8 (on hw16 and hw17)
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Monday, April 17:
Chapter VIII, sections 9-12 (pp. 226-232)
homework 20 (due April 27)
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Thurs, April 20:
Chapter VIII, sections 13-15 (pp. 233-244)
homework 21 (due April 27)
Quiz 9 (on hw18 and hw19)
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Monday, April 24: Exam II
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Thurs, April 27; Students' presentations of final projects
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Monday, May 1: Students' presentations of final projects
Doron Zeilberger's teaching page