The History of Dr. Math

In fall of 1994 the Geometry Forum (now the Math Forum) discovered a dormant project called "Ask Prof. Maths," where K-12 students could send in math questions and get personal answers. We decided to revive the program, using Swarthmore College math students as 'Math Doctors' - we called them the 'Swat Team' - students who loved to answer questions from other students.

By the fall of 1995, the rapidly increasing volume of questions required that new members of the staff be recruited from other colleges around the country. By the year 2000, there had been over 300 volunteer 'Doctors' from all corners of the globe. The service continues to grow in popularity and has received a number of Internet awards.

Questions, Answers, and Archive

Students submit questions to Dr. Math by filling out our Web form. Answers are sent back by e-mail, and we then gather the best questions and answers into a searchable archive organized by grade level (elementary, middle school, high school) and topic (exponents, infinity, polynomials, etc.). We recommend using the Dr. Math searcher to find what you want (try keywords like fibonacci, fractal, or proof), and investigating the Dr. Math FAQ (topics include prime numbers, pi, the golden ratio, Pascal's triangle).

Looking for an interesting problem?

Because we have our hands full answering questions, we do not mail out challenging problems. If you are looking for math problems, here are some places to visit:

Math Forum Problems of the Week:

• Primary
• Math Fundamentals
• Pre-Algebra
• Algebra
• Geometry
• Trig & Calculus

More problems and puzzles

• Geometry Project of the Month
• Macalester College Problem of the Week
• Problems of the week administered by others
• K12 Math Problem & Puzzle Sites - Internet Mathematics Library, Math Forum
• The rec.puzzles newsgroup archive
• Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles - Alexander Bogomolny