History of Mathematics Course

 History of Mathematics was first offered in the 1894-5 College Catalogue as an elective course for juniors or seniors. In 1898 the course title was changed to History and Logic of Mathematics with particular reference to the needs of teachers. The link with education, suggesting that the course was particularly suitable for prospective teachers, continued for the next sixty years. Indeed after Cajori left in 1918, and the course was taken over by his replacement Charles Sisam, the name of the course was changed to make the link even clearer. It was first called Teacher's Course, and then to The Teaching of Mathematics (Mathematics 401). These courses were restricted to seniors, and were intended for those intending to enter secondary teaching. But it still seems to have been largely a history course.

For over fifty years (between 1894 and 1948) the course was taught by only two people, Florian Cajori and Charles Sisam. On Sisam's retirement his colleague William Lovitt taught it for two years until his own retirement, whereupon it was taken over by the new head of department, Joseph Leech. It was under Leech that the course seems to have petered out, despite his bringing Margaret Hansman on board to teach it with him. Shortly the course was moved to alternate year presentation, then "offered on demand", and disappeared from the catalogue altogether in the 1960s.

It was not until the 1980s that faculty interest in teaching history of mathematics revived, at first as a two-block general studies course GS213 History of Mathematical Thought, co-taught by a mathematician and a non-mathematician. Later a course with higher mathematical expectations was developed. In 1994-5, for example, Math 340 was History of Mathematics, taught by Marlow Anderson, and the following year Mike Siddoway offered Math 340 - Mathematics Through Original Sources. And in 1999 the department decided to restore the slot for a history of mathematics course as a mainstream regular offering, Math 351. Although in some sense this reinstates the tradition of teaching history of mathematics which flourished at Colorado College from the early days of Florian Cajori, the way history of mathematics is taught now pays less attention to its value for prospective teachers and emphasizes more the intrinsic interest of the subject as well as its value for mathematics majors in general.

 

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