Math on Europe

Date: 01/12/97 at 19:19:35
From: suzanne @ mathforum.org (Suzanne Alejandre)
Subject: Math on Europe

Dear Dr. Mike,

Currently I am working on a section of pages that starts at

http://mathforum.org/alejandre/mathfair/index.html

Sarah Seastone, my editor, ran across your response to Charlie Napier 

http://mathforum.org/dr.math/problems/napier1.3.97.html

which we felt fit so well with the unit that I am working on! Your
ideas are excellent. You can see how I linked to it by going to

http://mathforum.org/alejandre/mathfair/more.html

My question (or perhaps request) is if there is any possibility that
you could respond similarly to Math on Europe.


I would love to hear your ideas.


Sincerely,

Suzanne Alejandre

Date: 01/17/97 at 01:25:49
From: Doctor Mike
Subject: Re: Math on Europe

Hello Suzanne,
  
My ideas of what is interesting may be a bit far out, but here goes.

1. Here you have an embarrassment of riches.  Most of what we call math has
happened in/near Europe, from ancient Greek geometry & Roman numerals to
modern calculus, set theory & chaos. It will be hard to find something in
math that's not well-rooted in Europe.  Even Lobachevsky's non-Euclidean
geometry was developed close to Europe, in the western part of Russia.

2. Try to involve the web sites for Mathmania/E4K (Erdos for kids). Connect
this to Europe since Paul Erdos was Hungarian.

3. Since so many famous mathematical names are European, a project could be
built around which countries they came from and how to pronounce their
names. For instance, do Germans say Leibniz so that it starts out sounding
like library or "lee-brary"?  Do you hear either "s" when the French say
Descartes?  How do you really say Aristotle in Greek? [ Yes, I know he was
not nearly the mathematician that Pythagoras or Euclid were, but I happen
to know this!  They really say something like AH-REESE-TOE-TAY'-LEASE,
with a nickname of TAY'-LEE, which is where Telly Savalas of Kojak fame
gets his name. ]

4. Graph number of European immigrants vs. year from 1800 to the present.
  
I can't think of any others now, but this is a start.  Good luck.

-Doctor Mike,  The Math Forum
  Check out our web site!  http://mathforum.org/dr.math/