Term paper: You will write a research paper on a topic of
your choosing. This is meant to be an interesting and enjoyable
assignment, not a chore, so choose your topic with care. I will pass out
a list of suggested topics early in the course. Your paper should satisfy
the following constraints:
- It must be a paper on the history of mathematics; it cannot be
all history nor all mathematics.
- It must be written in an expository style, with enough background
material so that it can be read and enjoyed by itself. Test your
paper for readability by asking a friend to read it. Form is
important!
- You should use many different research materials, from articles
to books to the internet. Pay attention to your sources, especially
to their reliability. Verify everything, document everything.
- The paper should be done on a word processor, preferably one that
can handle mathematics (Microsoft Word can). It is worth investing
the time to learn how to do this.
Notice that I have said nothing about length. A topic has a natural
length; let your paper grow to that length. You are telling a story:
follow the King's advice to the White Rabbit: "Begin at the beginning,
and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
To give you some signposts along the way, your paper will be due in three
stages:
- Friday, October 17: you will email me the topic of your
paper and a short explanation of what you hope to do with it. Think of
this as a "research proposal."
- Friday, November 14: you will turn in a progress report.
This should include your topic, a short summary of what you intend to
do, an outline, a preliminary bibliography, and any questions you would
like to ask. This can be done either via email or on paper. I will
comment on your progress so far and try to offer suggestions and
guidance. The more material you include, the more extensive my reaction
will be.
- The final version of the paper will be due on Friday,
December 12.