Assignment 1




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Assignment 2 Response

I believe that our "Napier's Bones" presentation was quite a treat for some students in class. The gasps of finding out how they did multiplication was very rewarding, because the enjoyment and satisfaction of teaching students something they didn't know really made us happy. I believe that this activity is a fun activity for younger grades, most preferably in elementary school, because it serves as a visual aid to multiplying and dividing numbers. The concept itself isn't very different from how most people learned to multiply, but it shows the type of thinking required for though multiplying "ugly" numbers together. For example, if I were to multiply 37 and 35, it would be easier (for me) to calculate (30 x 35) + (7 x 35) instead. This breakdown of the numbers greatly reduces the stress on a student, and helps them piece together the multiplication instead of having them do difficult mental math.
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Was Pythagoras Chinese?

Unless it is a mathematics history course, I do not believe it is necessary to acknowledge any source of mathematics. I personally do not believe that knowing how the Chinese demonstrated a fundamental understanding of a theorem named after Pythagoras will affect how my understanding of said theorem. It is amazing that the Chinese were able to understand various different advanced mathematical concepts, that I will not argue against. However, my life or mathematical abilities have not changed the slightest upon reading about the many advances during the Yellow King's ruling period. If it comes to properly naming something, I do agree that they should be done correctly. Giving credit to where it is due is important, but there are times when a discovery was made by someone who also influenced other fields of academia. Euclid was not only known for Elements , but also for his work on the field of geometry as well. But this only goes back to the my initial argument that it only matters...
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Assignment 2: Napier's Bones

John Napier invented his "Bones" structure, which is a set of numerical rods placed side by side to allow for quick calculations of multiplication and division. They can also be used for finding square roots as well. Our group will teach these three methods to the class. The following link contains a printable copy of "Napier's Bones". http://www.s-v-w.com/napiermaths/
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