Why teach the history of Mathematics?

 Despite having completed a Math degree in university, I would say I rarely came in contact with the history of Mathematics. Nevertheless, I have heard of it. However, anything history related was never my cup of tea. One of the reasons I got into math is because I hate memorizing things, all the dates and names drive me crazy. With that being said, a few names do occasionally pop up when I taught in high school – Euler, Pythagoras, Fibonacci…. These names were usually my cue to talk about stories about them and their accomplishments. This was how limited of a role history of Mathematics played in my classroom. If I were to incorporate Mathematics history into my teaching, I would be a preface on a number of topics.  I would like my students to know what kinds of stories led us to what we have to learn. The history of a certain topic can also be researched by the students prior to coming to class.

 

 

There are two points the author brought up in the paper that caught my attention and I find them very applicable to Math education nowadays. The first is how learning the history of Mathematics allows students and teachers to see how a topic or the field has evolved. This may seem obvious, however, when we think of how math is learned today, the idea of Math has been evolving is not visible to students. They see that technology is evolving because they get a new phone from time to time. They see their favorite music genera evolving because they see new music videos being posted regularly. How about Math? From the perspective of students, the curriculum has already sat on the website way before the students enter the classroom. They are pretty sure their siblings have or will study the same topic as they are studying now. Unless students themselves have a habit of reading Math journals or regularly visit the Fields Medal recipient website, the idea of Mathematics has been evolving is not that obvious to them. I am intrigued by how learning about the history of Mathematics can change people’s perceptions of Mathematics. The second point I want to talk about is that, through studying the history of Mathematics, students can learn about different debates or tensions that Mathematics has experienced. This is also another strange idea for students in today’s classroom. Teachers use debate in Social Studies and English. Mathematics is the last subject people will think of under the category of debatable. The rationale behind those historic tensions and debates may inspire students to reflect on the relationship between what they are learning and the world around them at this moment. The above two points drawn from the reading demonstrate how teachers can help students explore a new dimension of Mathematics.

 

 

This paper is definitely very informative. It is a great introductory point for me to explore the subject. It changed my perception of History as just “direct historic information”. Now I have understood the history of Mathematics as not just a record of (Mathematics) human events, but a record of the human thinking process over the years. As the reading mentions, learning about the history of Mathematics also allows the learning of different cultures and disciplines. From the above, I can relate how they fit with some of the IB focuses – interdisciplinary and culturally aware. Furthermore, appropriate assessment through the lenses of the history of mathematics is an effective springboard to developing skills like critical thinking, global awareness, reflection, and more.