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Why teach history of mathematics ?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2016

Torkil Heiede
Torkil Heiede*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Royal Danish School of Educational Studies, Emdrupvej 115 B, DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark
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Extract

There are questions which have only personal answers. One such question is the one in the title; another, which is intricately bound up with it, is: Why teach mathematics? On the following pages you will find my personal answers to both questions; a selection of other people's answers to one or both are listed at the end. Much longer lists could be made, and very long ones if one included also papers in other languages than English. As you will see, my list contains papers from different parts of the world and from different times in this century; it seems that many people agree, for different reasons, that one really should teach history of mathematics, but that it has to be said again and again.

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Type
Research Article
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 76 , Issue 475 , March 1992, pp. 151 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © The Mathematical Association 1992

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References

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