MT 007.02 / SL 266.01

Texts

• Gardner, Martin: The Magic Numbers of Doctor Matrix
• Menninger, Karl: Number Words and Number Symbols: A Cultural History of Numbers

This is a core mathematics course, and it is also an attempt to study the cultural history of mathematics in three overlapping ways. We will study how numbers, number words, and number symbols function in various languages and cultures. We will learn a bit of elementary theory of numbers, including number oddities and number games. Finally, we will consider the concept of number symbolism, particularly in religion, music, literature, and other artistic and cultural institutions. We will be drawing material from and working with data from many non-Western cultures, including China, Japan, India, the Islamic world, Africa, the Andes, and North American Indian culture.

Your grade in this course will be the average of five components: Class participation and recitation will account for 30% of your grade. There will be four or five content and subject quizzes, accounting for 20% of your grade. Frequent and relatively brief written assignments will account for 20% of your grade. (There will be no term paper.) An hour-long midterm examination will account for 10% of your grade. The final examination will account for 20% of your grade.

The mid-term examination will be held on Friday, February 27. Please note that this is the last day of classes before spring vacation begins, and make your travel plans accordingly. The final examination will be at the time scheduled by the Registrar: Monday, May 4, at 12:30 PM.

The following grading scale is used at Boston College:
A = excellent,
B = good,
C = satisfactory,
D = unsatisfactory but passing,
F = failure.
Plus and minus are discretionary qualifiers for all course materials and for the final grade. Note: An absence receives a 0 but a failure receives an F (55). Therefore you should attend, even if unprepared.

If you are not prepared for an assignment, be honest and tell the instructor before class. This will weigh far less against you than if you waste valuable class time by trying to ``fake it.'' Similarly if you know you are going to have difficulty getting an assignment in on time or being present for a quiz or class, contact the instructor in advance in person, or using voice-mail or electronic mail.

Academic honesty

The College expects that all students adhere to the accepted norms of intellectual honesty in their academic work. Any form of cheating, plagiarism, dishonesty, or collusion in another's dishonesty constitutes a fundamental violation of these norms. It is the student's responsibility to understand and abide by these standards of academic honesty, further defined in the Arts and Sciences regulations, par 8.1.

Miscellaneous

• Eat and drink whatever you need before you come to class. Food and drink disturb the decorum of the classroom.
• An unsatisfactory exercise or recitation (F) counts for 55%, an absence counts for 0%, so it is always better to come to class, even if you are not prepared.
• Notify the relevant instructor in advance if you are going to be absent or have not prepared. Failures or absences with advance notification do not count against you as much as unannounced ones.
• All written work longer than one page long must be attached with paper clips or staples, and have smooth edges, or it will not be graded. Neatly handwritten assignments will be accepted.