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Heinemann
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The Human Face of Mathematics: Challenging Misconceptions by Susan H. Picker and John S. Berry
is used by permission of the authors.
Math and the Westward Expansion: How an Interdisciplinary Project Changed My Thinking
by Peter Dubno, Jr., is used by permission of the author.
Figures in The Math of Art are reprinted by permission of artist Caissa Douwes.
Getting Smarter: A Seventh-Grade Class Researches and Reflects on Its Discussion Habits by Matt
Wayne is used by permission of the author.
Student prompts in From Windex to Wildstrom are used by permission of Susan Wildstrom.

C 2001.
If dy/d x = 4x 3 + x 2 12/ 2x 2 9, then from Asylum by Amy Quan Barry. Copyright 
Reprinted by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.
C 1980 by Rita Dove. Published by
Geometry from Selected Poems by Rita Dove. Copyright 
Vintage, 1993. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Absolute Zero by Elizabeth Fox is used by permission of the author.
Excerpt from curriculum letter to parents by Brooke Jackson is used by permission of the author.
Mallarme in Tournon by Rodger Kamenetz is reprinted by permission of the author.
C 2000.
Excerpt of Mr. Nortons Wart Hog from Very Much Like Desire by Diane Lefer. Copyright 
Published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Record of Class Discussion scoring form by Jody Madell is reprinted by permission of the author.
Grace to Be Said at the Supermarket from The Blue Swallows by Howard Nemerov. Published by
University of Chicago Press. Reprinted by permission of Margaret Nemerov.
The Mark from Works and Days, Volume XXVI by David Schubert, Quarterly Review of Literature
Poetry Book Series. Reprinted by permission of the Quarterly Review of Literature.
Test reflection sheet by Cheryl Schafer is used by permission of the author.
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Palm Sunday from Palm Sunday by Kurt Vonnegut. Copyright 
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What Did I Learn in School? (A Recitation) from So Much to Do: Poems by Alan Ziegler by Alan
C 1981 by Release Press. Reprinted by permission of the author.
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Teaching for depth : where math meets the humanities / edited by Dale Worsley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-325-00245-2 (acid-free paper)
1. MathematicsStudy and teaching (Middle school). 2. MathematicsStudy and teaching
(Secondary). 3. Literature in mathematics education. I. Worsley, Dale, 1948.
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ii

Teaching for Depth

Where Math Meets the Humanities
Edited by Dale Worsley

Annotated Bibliography and Websites

In the conclusion I referred to the world of possibilities that Teaching for Depth would
contain if it could. This annotated bibliography and list of websites are intended to direct
readers to at least the fringes of the world beyond the book's covers. The bibliography
comprises only the limited reading and research I was able to do, along with the
contributions of a few others (including Susan Schwartz Wildstrom and Matthew
Szenher, whose recommended reading list and website extensions and connections
appear at the end). I hope that readers will understand that it is merely a model of what
others may experience if they are willing to set out on similar journeys.

Annotated Bibliography

Bartlett, F. C. 1932. Remembering: A Case Study in Experiential and Social Psychology.

London: Cambridge University Press. On Ian Hauser's reading list for those interested
in constructivist theory (see his chapter, "Every Class Is an English Class").

Barton, M. L., and C. Heidema. 2000. Teaching Reading in Mathematics. Aurora, CO:
Midcontinent Research for Education and Learning. Mary Lee Barton and Clare
Heidema have created a supplement to the comprehensive Teaching Reading in the
Content Areas, a collection of well-researched techniques to help teach the reading of
mathematics. They define reading as "decoding and comprehending what is read;
planning for and monitoring the effectiveness of one's reading; analyzing and
evaluating the content in light of one's prior knowledge, experiences and schemata;
and making inferences and generating conclusions based on the reader's unique
interpretation of what is read." They understand that "mathematics text demands that
readers use additional, content-specific skills." If math, in line with the themes of this
work, is going to become less isolated, then it must be understood. Teaching Reading
in Mathematics provides the basic literacy tools for accomplishing this. Tools include
concept definition mapping, semantic feature analysis, vocabulary elaboration
strategies, word sorts, anticipation/prediction guides, graphic organizers, and others.

Berdinasky, B., B. Cronnell, and J. A. Koehla. 1969. "Technical Report Number 15."
Austin, TX: Southwest Regional Laboratory for Educational Research and

Development. On Ian Hauser's reading list for those interested in constructivist theory
(see his chapter, "Every Class Is an English Class").

Berger, R. 1996. "A Culture of Quality: A Reflection on Practice." Occasional Paper

Series (1). Providence, RI: Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Ron Berger's
reflection on his exemplary project-based teaching includes a description of "The
Radon Project," in which mathematics played an integrated and meaningful part in
creating "the first-known comprehensive radon picture of any town in the state." The
way his students worked ("the room had the feel of a newspaper office") is how it
should look in every school.

Berlinski, D. 1995. A Tour of the Calculus. New York: Vintage. One of the books that
transformed the culture of Tammy Vu's classroom (see her chapter, "'I Would Have
Laughed. . .': A Math Classroom Transformed by Literature") and transformed my
understanding of higher order mathematics. Some math teachers I have spoken with
find his prose too flowery for their tastes but it gave me access to the wonder of the
concepts of calculus. I loved the dramatic scenarios and metaphoric visualizations.
The section quoted here mirrors in its language my own visualization of what Dewey
means by learners' "continuum of experience":

Continuity is an aspect of things as rooted in reality as the fact that material

objects occupy space; it is the contrast between the continuous and the discrete
that is the great generating engine by which the real numbers are constructed and
the calculus created. The concept of continuity is, like so many profound
3

concepts, both simple and elusive, elementary and divinely enigmatic. A process
is continuous if it has no gaps, no place where the process itself falls into
abeyance. The flight of an eagle is an example. The great bird gathers its
shoulders, pushes off from a rotted tree stump, lifts into the wind, its wings
beating, soars upward on a thermal current, and then, its neck curved downward,
folds its wings together and dives toward the stream below. Although in the
course of flight the bird does different things, there is no moment when what it
does simply lapses so that it jumps from one part of its aerial repertoire to another.
(130)

Blattner, D. 1997. The Joy of . New York: Walker and Company. This is the handy,
fact- filled, creatively designed book that gave me the sense of wonder at the number
that I mentioned in the conclusion, in relation to the eighth-grade test. It is perhaps
worth telling an anecdote about the book. I had been reading it on the subway on my
way to a New York City Lab School graduation ceremony. I sat next to contributor
Peter Dubno in the auditorium. I was pretty much agog at the myriad wonders of the
number. (It is, for instance, associated with the relationship between circles and
squares. Whereas circles are "natural" and hard to measure, squares are more of a
human creation and much easier to measure, yet the relationship between them is
heavily tied up with the naturally occurring pi, which so mystically stretches out to
infinity. The number has many other odd attributes, such as its place in the measuring
of the heights of elephants. Apparently, the height of an elephant from foot to
shoulder = 2 x x the diameter of its foot). After rattling on for a while about this to
Peter, he said, "It's not any more special than 5.0000 . . . , with zeros to infinity. It's
4

just a number, in and of itself, like any other number." Somehow this didn't reduce
the wonder I felt at the properties of pi but made all numbers suddenly seem equally
wonderful to me.

Borowsky, E. J., and J. M. Borwein. 1991. The HarperCollins Dictionary of

Mathematics. New York: HarperCollins. I found this dictionary to be particularly
useful in defining concepts in mathematics and providing details on the lives of
mathematicians. Teachers and students could get an education in idle moments
thumbing through it, when not consulting it on specific words, ideas, and figures.

Brooks. J. G., and M. G. Brooks. 1993. In Search of Understanding: The Case for
Constructivist Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development. On Ian Hauser's reading list for those interested in
constructivist theory (see his chapter, "Every Class Is an English Class") and
recommended by Matthew Szenher in his chapter, "The Mathematician's Apprentice."

Brown, S. I. 1996. "Towards Humanistic Mathematics Education." First published in

First International Handbook in Mathematics Education, 1996, ed. Alan Bishop.
Now available at http://members.tripod.com/mumnet/sibrown/sib003.htm. Stephen I.
Brown's essay begins, "Humanistic mathematics education? What is it? Those who
have experienced mathematics as a depersonalized, uncontextualized, noncontroversial and asocial form of knowledge might very well consider the expression
humanistic mathematics education to be the epitome of an oxymoron (1)." Brown
proceeds to construct the philosophical and pedagogical frameworks that are critical
5

to the humanizing of mathematics in the schools. "One needs to be aware of the ways
in which curriculum and texts influence each other; how teachers define themselves
professionally and personally; how students and their image of themselves are
affected by the culture of school and society; what concepts of application are both
used and ignored in an effort to 'apply' a discipline like mathematics to the real world;
what constitutes legitimate research in education; how teachers are 'trained'; how
authority in religion and other forms of dogma compare with authority of reason."
Brown, in this and other texts available on the tripod website, is the man to make us
so aware. (See Matthew Szenher's essay "Websites: Extensions and Connections" for
more on S. I. Brown.)

Bruner, J. S. 1971. Toward a Theory of Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

On Ian Hauser's reading list for those interested in constructivist theory (see his
chapter, "Every Class Is an English Class").

Buhler, W. K. 1981. Gauss: A Biographical Study. New York: Springer-Verlag. Good for
a biographical study. Recommended in Mathematics Teacher.

Burghardt, M. D. 1995. Introduction to the Engineering Profession. New York:

HarperCollins. Recommended by David Hardy in his chapter, "Life at Imaginary
High."

Burns, M. 1987. A Collection of Math Lessons. White Plains, NY: Math Solutions
Publications. A pioneer in the field of constructivist mathematics, Marilyn Burns has
6

created her own staff development and research organization, Math Solutions, which
produces high-quality resource materials, including the series A Collection of Math
Lessons. It includes volumes for grades 13, 36, and 68. If you want exemplars of
engaged, collaborative, inquiry-based math classrooms, investigate these books.

Calhoun, E. F. 1994. How To Use Action Research in the Self-Renewing School.

Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Recommended by Matt Wayne in his chapter, "Getting Smarter: A Seventh-Grade
Class Researches and Reflects on Its Discussion Habits."

Cambourne. B. 1988. The Whole Story: Natural Learning and the Acquisition of Literacy
in the Classroom. Auckland. N.Z.: Ashton Scholastic. On Ian Hauser's reading list for
those interested in constructivist theory (see his chapter, "Every Class Is an English
Class").

Clarke, D. 1997. Constructive Assessment in Mathematics: Practical Steps for Classroom

Teachers. Berkeley, CA: Key Curriculum. Math teachers who know the value of
portfolio assessment use this book.

Clay. M. M. 1979. Reading: The Patterning of Complex Behavior. Auckland. N.Z.:

Heinemann. This and other Clay references are on Ian Hauser's reading list for those
interested in constructivist theory (see his chapter, "Every Class Is an English Class").

. 1984. The Early Detection of Reading Difficulties. Auckland N.Z.: Heinemann.

7

. 1993. An Observational Survey of Early Literacy Achievement. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann.

Cooney, T. J., S. I. Brown, J. A. Dossey, G. Schrage, and E.C. Wittmann. 1996.

Mathematics, Pedagogy, and Secondary Teacher Education. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann. Thomas J. Cooney and company (including Stephen I. Brown, a leader in
the field of humanistic math education, and listed previously) have prepared a
preservice and inservice resource book for math teachers that is organized as a kind
of novel. It is designed to address the NCTM's math "standards" while digging deep
into the realities encountered in the math teacher's mind, curriculum, and classroom.

COMAP, Inc. 1998. Mathematics: Modeling Our World. Cincinnati: South-Western

Educational Publishing. This standards-based textbook by The Consortium for
Mathematics and Its Applications is "dedicated to presenting mathematics through
contemporary applications." New York City Community School District Two has
adopted the textbook for the high schools in its district as part of the constructivist
ARISE curriculum. I participated in training sessions and became a math student
again, this time experiencing the pleasure and understanding I had failed to feel and
achieve in the teacher-centered math classrooms of my youth. The textbook delivers
handily on its promise to contextualize mathematics: "When the mathematics used to
solve problems gives inadequate solutions, people search for new ways to use
mathematics to achieve better solutions. . . . The search for new ways to use
mathematics to solve real problems is going on every day in the world around you."
8

For anyone worried that the "basics" of math might be left out, the teacher's version
of the textbook begins each unit with a "Scope and Sequence Chart." The unit on
voting listed the following math skills and strategies: number sense, percentages,
preference diagram representation, graph theory, paradox, and matricesand it was
only Unit One, the first of eight for the ninth grade. I loved the literature, multiple
applications of related concepts, and collaborative nature of the work in the
curriculum design. After trying it out for a few months, teachers celebrated their
students' abilities to create their own equations instead of just solving prefabricated
ones. They applauded the comfort levels already achieved by the students in
replacing variables with further variables. "They're doing fine with this," said Peter
Dubno (author of the chapter "Math and the Westward Expansion: How an
Interdisciplinary Project Changed My Thinking"). Another veteran teacher said,
"This curriculum is so much more than a math course. The nuance . . . there is always
so much more popping out. There is as much about language as about mathematics."

Connolly, P., and T. Vilardi. 1989. Writing to Learn Mathematics and Science. New
York: Teachers College Press. Generated by the progressive and innovative Institute
for Writing and Thinking at Bard College, this work collects the ideas of twenty-three
practitioners, academic researchers, and cross-disciplinary visitors to the field of
writing in math and science. It is replete with analysis, advice, case studies, and
informed perspective. I don't know of another book that so centrally collects the best
thinking on the subject of bringing "word people" and "number people" (as Reuben
Hersh phrases it in the final essay of the book) together for meaningful discourse. As
Reuben goes on to say, "the day will come, I believe, when the value of writing to
9

learn will be universally acknowledged." Writing to Learn Mathematics and Science

brings brings that day much closer on our calendars.

Countryman, J. 1992. Writing to Learn Mathematics: Strategies that Work. Portsmouth,

NH: Heinemann. Joan Countryman's comprehensive, yet simple and instructive, book
on writing in the math classroom. It gives clear, cogent ideas, and samples of writing
in the math classroom in the following categories: writing to learn, autobiography,
journals, word problems, formal writing, evaluative writing, and reflective writing. I
give this book to math and humanities teachers alike to get the conversation started. It
closes the case on the value of writing.

Dauben, Joseph. 1979. Georg Cantor: His Mathematics and Philosophy of the Infinite.
New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Also good for a biographical study.

Dehaene, S. 1997. The Number Sense: How the Mind Creates Mathematics. New York:
Oxford University Press. Another of the "must-reads" for those interested in
plumbing the depths of this book's theme. The initial guiding questions are "Might
numbers bealmost as old as life itself? Might they be engraved in the very
architecture of our brains? Do we all possess a 'number sense,' a special intuition that
helps us make sense of numbers and mathematics?" The answers are thoroughly
elaborated, build on the history of neurological research into learning and
mathematics, and tell a good story. No argument for the function of intuition and the
emotions in understanding mathematics could be more persuasive or detailed. Its
significance to mathematics education is, or should be, inestimable.
10

Dennis, D. 2000. "The Role of Historical Studies in Mathematics and Science

Educational Research." In Research Design in Mathematics and Science Education.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. David Dennis answers the questions, What kinds of
historical investigations are desirable? Where and how should they be presented and
discussed? What sort of reforms of curricula can history inspire? What kind of
history, if any, should be presented directly to secondary students? or to teacher
candidates? What part should history play in educational philosophy and
epistemology? His essay has the potential to lend clarity to the reasoning in Teaching
for Depth as he develops his arguments along three lines: context (the use of history
to inspire students), content (the use of history to gain insights into concepts), and
critique (the use of history to see how certain views came to be valued over others).

Dewdney, A. K. 1999. A Mathematical Mystery Tour. New York: Wiley. Is mathematics

invented or discovered? This is the question that guides the dramatized scenes that
lead Dewdney to conclude that it is, essentially, discovered. The question is one that
students can grapple with energetically, especially as the arguments are subtle and
require much evidence to support them. Along the way, guided by Dewdney's
entertaining historical narrative, they will deepen their understanding of human
nature as well as of mathematics. "[T]he human mind has a certain ability to model
reality, an ability honed by millions of years of evolution (178)," claims one of
Dewdney's authoritative characters, who later also points out that "there is evidence
that we proceed in our researches at both a conscious and an unconscious level
(179)." The continuum of experience is illuminated even as math is seen as part of a
"holos" (as opposed to cosmos) beyond human experience. My experience has been
11

that focusing on such questions as Dewdney's has the potential to engage even the
most alienated students because it gets to the true wonders of reality and of the
human mind.

Dewey, J. [1938] 1997. Experience and Education. Reprint, New York: Touchstone.
Discussed in the introduction, in reference to learners' "continuum of experience."
The summary on the cover states: "The great educational theorist's most concise
statement of his ideas about the needs, the problems, and the possibilities of
educationwritten after his experience with the progressive schools and in the light
of the criticisms his theories received."

Dunham, William. 1999. Euler, the Master of Us All. Washington, D.C.: Mathematical
Association of America. Good one for teachers or students doing biographical
research. Recommended in Mathematics Teacher.

Eglash, R. 1999. African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design. New
Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. A fascinating ethnomathematical study of
fractals in the design work of African cultures, with gorgeous illustrations comparing
African art and computer design. Too academic for cover-to-cover reading in the high
school classroom, but a tantalizing and mind-blowing book to stimulate ideas and
change perceptions if presented in small chunks.

Emmer, M. 1990. "Mathematics and the Media." In The Popularization of Mathematics,

ed. A. G. Howson and J. P. Kahane. ICMI Study Series, 89102. Cambridge:
12

Cambridge University Press. Recommended by Susan H. Picker and John S. Berry to

elaborate on the themes they explore in their chapter, "The Human Face of
Mathematics: Challenging Misconceptions."

Fadiman, Clifton. 1962. The Mathematical Magpie: Being More Stories, Mainly
Transcendental, Plus Subsets of Essays, Rhymes, Music, Anecdotes, Epigrams, and
other Prime Oddments and Diversions, Rational or Irrational, All Derived from the
Infinite Domain of Mathematics. New York: Simon and Schuster. The title says it all.
William Wordsworth, Mark Twain, Samuel Beckett, Raymond Queneau, Saul
Steinberga prestigious and transcendentally intelligent and witty collection. Read
something from this book or its predecessor, Fantasia Mathematica, to a class every
day, and three quarters of the bridge to humanities will be crossed.

Fogarty, R. 1999. "Architects of the Intellect." In Educational Leadership. Alexandria,

VT: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. On Ian Hauser's
reading list for those interested in constructivist theory (see his chapter, "Every Class
Is an English Class").

Gardner, M. 1998. "A Quarter-Century of Recreational Mathematics." Scientific

American 279 (2): 6876. Recommended by Sylvia Gross in her chapter, "From
Windex to Wildstrom: Conversations with My Teacher."

Gleick, J. Chaos. New York: Viking, 1987. James Gleick explores the gaps between
scientific and mathematical disciplines in this landmark report on the "new science"
13

of chaos. To explain the growth of complexity in nature, one must peer into the dark
corners where transitions and anomalies take place. One will find there a deeper order
to the chaos that lurks behind the faade of order. Mathematics begins to look and
feel eerily poetic in the appearance of fractal patterns and strange attractors. I believe
that to be culturally, scientifically, and mathematically literate, one must read this
book. Students need their teachers to be literate at these levels. Elizabeth Fox's
chapter, "Encouraging Chaos," articulates the stakes and demonstrates how such
literacy might play out in the classroom.

Graves, D. H., and B. Sunstein. 1992. Portfolio Portraits. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Good case studies and strong inspiration for portfolio work in the classroom. Here's
an indicative statement from Sunstein, supporting the "calculus" of learning's smooth
continuity:

Portfolios mean more than evaluation or assessment. They are tied to our
definition of literacy. When we read and write constantly, when we reflect on who
we are and who we want to be, we cannot help but grow. Over time, portfolios
help us identify and organize the specifics of our reading and writing. They
catalogue our accomplishments and goals, from successes to instructive failures.
Portfolios ought to be documents of our personal literacy histories. Keeping a
portfolio is a long and disciplined process. We need to allow portfolios some
growing and breathing space before we freeze them into a definition or a
standardized mandate.

14

Growney, J., ed. 2001. Numbers and Faces: A Collection of Poems with Mathematical
Imagery. Claremont, CA: Humanistic Mathematics Network. JoAnne Growney has
produced one of the finest, most focused collections of "math poems" I have seen.
Poems by our greatest poets, from W. H. Auden to Linda Pastan, from Pablo Neruda
to Sherman Alexie, are found here. It would be on my required reading list if I were a
math teacher. I will be using poems from the collection for some time to come in my
writing class. Note also that JoAnne Growney has produced two quality collections of
her own that offer poems on mathematical themes: My Dance is Mathematics and
Intersections.

. 2001. My Dance is Mathematics. Bloomsberg, PA: Available from the author.

Hanley, S. 1994. "On Constructivism." Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation.

Recommended by Matthew Szenher in his chapter, "The Mathematician's
Apprentice."

Heisenberg, W. 1971. Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations. New York:
Harper & Row. Elizabeth Fox, author of the chapter "Encouraging Chaos,"
encourages teachers to familiarize themselves with this work that reads like a novel
as it describes the emergence of the uncertainty principle and quantum physics. The
cultural influence on mathematics, and vice versa, are clearly apparent in this story of
mysterious and liberating ideas.

15

Hennings, D. G. 2000. "Contextually Relevant Word Study: Adolescent Vocabulary

Development across the Curriculum." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 44 (3):
270. This piece is the most comprehensive short treatment of the subject I have seen,
a perfect realization of the theme of Teaching for Depth at the linguistically atomic
level of the word.

Heschel, A. 1966. "Children and Youth." The Insecurity of Freedom: Essays on Human
Existence. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America. Recommended by
Sylvia Gross in her chapter, "From Windex to Wildstrom: Conversations with My
Teacher."

Hoffman, P. 1998. The Man Who Loved Only Numbers. New York: Hyperion. Another of
the books that transformed Tammy Vu's classroom (see her chapter, "'I Would Have
Laughed. . .': A Math Classroom Transformed by Literature"). Also recommended by
Susan Schwartz Wildstrom.

Howson, A. G. and J. P. Kahane. 1990. "A Study Overview." In The Popularization of

Mathematics, ed. A.G. Howson and J. P. Kahane. ICMI Study Series, 137.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Recommended by Susan H. Picker and John
S. Berry to elaborate on the themes they explore in their chapter, "The Human Face
of Mathematics: Challenging Misconceptions."

16

Hubbard, R., and B. Powers. 1993 The Art of Classroom Inquiry. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann. Recommended by Matt Wayne in his chapter, "Getting Smarter: A
Seventh-Grade Class Researches and Reflects on Its Discussion Habits."

Humanistic Mathematics Network. Journals, ed. Alvin White. Harvey Mudd College,
Claremont, CA. As I said in the conclusion, these journals are a steady source of
sophisticated thinking exactly along the lines of our theme. The poetry, stories,
essays, and pure freshness and spontaneity of thinking in these journals have the
potential to breathe life into any math or humanities classroom. (See Matthew
Szenher's essay, "Websites: Extensions and Connections" for more on the
Humanistics Mathematics Network.)

Institute for Learning. 1999. The Principles of Learning. Pittsburgh: Learning Research
and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Recommended by Matt
Wayne in his chapter, "Getting Smarter: A Seventh-Grade Class Researches and
Reflects on Its Discussion Habits."

Juster, N. 1961. The Phantom Tollbooth. New York: Epstein & Carroll. The popular
children's book contains a wonderful emulation of Alice in Wonderland in the chapter
"Milo and the Mathemagician." Illustrated by Jules Feiffer.

Kline, M. 1953. Mathematics in Western Culture. New York: Oxford University Press. If
there were one book to recommend for perspective on this work's theme, it would be
Morris Kline's. In his first paragraphs he identifies the sources of prejudice against
17

mathematics, quoting, amusingly (and frighteningly), St. Augustine: "The good

Christian should beware of mathematicians and all those who make empty
prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant
with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell (vi)." I
quoted Kline on the nature and value of mathematics in my chapter with Kay
Rothman, "A Mathematical Correspondence Between Humanists." He promised in
that passage to demonstrate the full value of mathematics as a "major cultural force in
Western civilization," and he delivers. He teases apart the threads of every issue,
sketches every major personality, and inspires wonder at the content of mathematics.
No book that I have read is more historically comprehensive. It is accessible to
literate high school students. Passages can easily be excerpted to elucidate any
mathematical study in the classroom. It is a classic. Kline has written other works that
come recommended by math friends, including: Mathematics and the Physical
World; Calculus, an Intuitive and Physical Approach; Mathematics for Liberal Arts;
Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times, and Mathematics: The Loss of
Certainty.

Kuhs, T. 1997. Measure for Measure: Using Portfolios in K8 Mathematics. Portsmouth,

NH: Heinemann. A practical book that demonstrates how to make portfolios work to
different purposes in the mathematics classroom and how to integrate them into the
culture of the school.

Krause, M. C. 2000. Multicultural Mathematics Materials. Reston, VA: National Council

of Teachers of Mathematics. A terrific collection of activities from global cultures
18

rarely mentioned in math class. Applicable to grades 18, but the historical
background for each activity expands awareness for all ages of the depth of math
understanding inherent in the arts, crafts, and games of the peoples of the world.

Lakoff, G., and R. E. Nez. 2000. Where Mathematics Comes From: How the Embodied
Mind Brings Mathematics into Being. New York: Basic Books. The authors attempt
to launch a discipline here, a cognitive science of mathematics. Working from the
premise that "[m]athematics is deep, fundamental, and essential to the human
experience," they consider that the intellectual content of mathematics is in its ideas,
not in its symbols, and that ideas are grounded in sensorymotor experience. Working
from the premises that "[m]ost of our thought and our systems of concepts are part of
the cognitive unconscious" and that "our ideas are shaped by our bodily
experiencesnot in any simpleminded one-to-one way but indirectly, through the
grounding of our entire conceptual system in everyday life," they debunk romantic
ideas that math is "abstract and disembodied." On the contrary, it arises directly from
"the nature of our brains and our embodied experience." They have discovered that a
great many of the most fundamental mathematical ideas are inherently metaphorical
in nature, such as the number line, where numbers are conceptualized metaphorically
as points on a line. They emphatically defy the Platonists, on the basis that a
"disembodied mathematics transcending all bodies and minds and structuring the
universe" simply cannot be proved scientifically." Although it is not necessarily easy
to follow the rigorously arguedsometimes perhaps over-argueddevelopment of
their argument, the implications for teaching are profound, as it ultimately puts a
"human face on mathematics." This shift in paradigm cannot help but make
19

conversations with math students more humane. Coupled with Dewdney's A

Mathematical Mystery Tour, which basically agrees with the Platonists, the issue on
the origins of mathematics is joined.

Learning Media. 1996. Reading for Life: The Learner as a Reader. Wellington, N.Z.:
New Zealand Ministry of Education. On Ian Hauser's reading list for those interested
in constructivist theory (see his chapter, "Every Class Is an English Class").

Mathematics Teacher, Focus Issue: History 93 (8): entire volume. This issue of the
publication from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics might well be
bound as a book and distributed as the single-most relevant publication for high
school teachers on the issue of history and mathematics. Any one of the articles
would make a terrific addition to this volume.

Mathews, H., and A. Brotchie, eds. 1998. Oulipo Compendium. London: Atlas. Elizabeth
Fox, in her chapter, "Encouraging Chaos," adapts an exercise from this weird and
inspiring book written by poets and artists who use mathematics as the basis for their
experiments. (Oulipo stands for Ouvroir de littrature potentielle, or "Workshop for
Potential Literature.") Raymond Queneau, one of the founders of the Oulipian
movement, humorously describes Oulipians as "rats who build the labyrinth from
which they plan to escape." The compendium is written in the form of a dictionary, in
which one finds dozens of invented forms of writing as well as a registry of
avant-gardists from Marcel Duchamp to John Ashbery.

20

Maor, E. 1987. To Infinity and Beyond: A Cultural History of the Infinite. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press. I am investigating Eli Maor's rich book as the deadline for
this work approaches. I am hungry to explore more deeply the layered history of the
idea of the infinite, which seems to have an infinite number of permutations, not to
mention an appealing appearance in its representations by the likes of M. C. Escher
(whose paintings are reproduced here in gorgeous color plates). "Such is the nature of
the infinite process that some series converge to their limits, while others which seem
to converge simply refuse to do so." The infinite, like life, seems to be a process, and
develops personality in its behaviors as it develops. The book promises to be very
pleasing to teachers and students willing to work through the ideas, which demand
concentration but not special knowledge. Matthew Szenher and Susan Wildstrom
recommend Maor's e: The Story of a Number, as well.

Morice, D. 2001. The Dictionary of Wordplay. New York: Teachers & Writers. Hundreds
of invented forms of poetry and wordplay are listed here via Dave Morice's obsessive
mind. It can't help but raise one's consciousness of the seemingly infinite variety of
mathematical patterns to be found in letters and words.

Moses, R. P., and C. E. Cobb. 2001. Radical Equations: Math, Literacy and Civil Rights.
Boston: Beacon. Moses and Cobb find literacy in mathematics to be a civil rights
issue. They analyze how community values and psychological health affect learning,
then devise constructivist methods that work within the context of African American
culture. It is a quietly revolutionary book that humanizes mathematics and gives us
useful tools for any classroom.
21

Nelson, D., G. G. Joseph, and J. Williams. 1993. Multicultural Mathematics: Teaching

Mathematics from a Global Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Although
the authors worry that their volume, because of its title, will induce "visions of a
rhetorical, educationally unsound vehicle for antiracism," they are, in fact seeking to
show that "mathematics has a rich cultural heritage and that it can be taught from a
multicultural standpoint." They work from three premises: (1) that "[e]ducation must
(logically) incorporate material from several cultures," (2) that "[e]ducation must
incorporate material from several cultures to be effective," and (3) that "[e]ducation
ought (morally) to incorporate such material not primarily to enhance the self-image
of minority children but to help all children in the future to negotiate more effectively
in a multicultural environment." They realize the potential of these premises by
meticulously breaking down preconception and prejudice to deliver a far richer
understanding of the history of mathematics, its application in the classroom, and its
potential to give students not only greater math skills but deeper empathy for the
cultures around us. Aimed at elementary educators it is nevertheless so erudite and
the arguments are so original that it has the potential to change teaching in powerful
ways at the secondary level.

Newman, J. R. 1956. The World of Mathematics: A Small Library of the Literature of

Mathematics from A'h-Mos the Scribe to Albert Einstein. Presented with
Commentaries and Notes by James R. Newman. New York: Simon and Schuster.
This compendium belongs in every high school math or humanities classroom to
demonstrate the long history of deep thought given to math and its relationship to
literature, history, art, and music. The greatest mathematicians, many scientists, and
22

not a few literary figures, such as Aldous Huxley, are represented among its four
volumes. The essays are generally accessible at some level and, if for no other reason,
might be consulted to attach the big ideas that come up in the curriculum to the
human voices of their conceivers. Hardly any student's mathematical or philosophical
question cannot be addressed here. The words themselves are stirring, especially
considering their historical and intellectual significance. Galileo: "My purpose is to
set forth a very new science dealing with a very ancient subject. There is, in nature,
perhaps nothing older than motion. . . ." Student writing can benefit from a study of
the author's styles and be enriched by the vocabulary as well as the ideas. It also bears
mention that the chapters are introduced with apt epigrams of wit and beauty,
commentary in and of itself on the power of literature to excite and orient the
imagination. One of my favorites, by Eric Temple Bell, introduces Euclid: "The
cowboys have a way of trussing up a steer or a pugnacious bronco which fixes the
brute so that it can neither move nor think. This is the hog-tie, and it is what Euclid
did to geometry."

Orr, Eleanor Wilson. 1987. Twice as Less. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. Inc. Orr
opens her foreword, "I am a high school teachera teacher of mathematics and
science." She declares this with obvious pride, but she also declares it to lay the
foundation for a practical, and pivotal, study in how black english vernacular (BEV)
affects the learning of black students in math and science. "In this book I show how
the misunderstandings that had puzzled me relate to the students' nonstandard uses of
certain prepositions and conjunctions that in standard English distinguish certain
quantitative ideas, and I show where there is reason to believe that these nonstandard
23

uses are rooted in the grammar of BEV. I emphasize, however, that it is the many
similarities between BEV and standard English that make the differences a
problemmore of a problem than they would be if the vocabularies and grammars of
the languages were totally distinct." Teasing out the differences between the
grammatical and syntactical structures of BEV and standard English in relation to
quantitative understanding required ten years of collecting data and consultation with
linguistic experts. In the end she boils the research down to illustrate just where the
traps are. A literacy program in any school with BEV speakers should include this
among its "must-read" professional books.

Padgett, R., ed. 1987. The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms. New York:
Teachers and Writers. The handbook was not written with mathematics in mind, but
many of the forms offer interesting mathematical patterns in their structure. Math
teachers who are interested in having students write poems will find good ideas here.
For instance, Tammy Vu, in her chapter, "'I Would Have Laughed. . .': A Math
Classroom Transformed by Literature," describes her use of the acrostic.

Paulos, J. A. 1995. A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper. New York: Doubleday. John
Allen Paulos' classic deconstruction of the way we use statistics. It has immediate
appeal to students who already feel a bit cynical and manipulated by the media and
helps to enlighten the rest. It is dedicated "To storytelling number-crunchers and
number-crunching storytellers."

24

Picker, S. H., and J. S. Berry. 2000. " Investigating Pupils' Images of Mathematicians."
Educational Studies in Mathematics 43 (1): 6594. A further elaboration of their
chapter in this work.

. 2001. "Your Students' Images of Mathematicians and Mathematics."

Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. 7 (4): 202209. More elaboration of
their chapter in this work, with practical suggestions for solving mathematics'
ingrained image problems.

Ritchart, Ron, ed. 1997. Through Mathematical Eyes Exploring Relationships in Math
and Science. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Part of the Moving Middle Schools series
of research papers, the book explains in the friendliest of terms how teaching for
understanding in a mindful classroom, using writing and projects, can eliminate the
need to even ask the question, Is this a humane way to teach mathematics?

Robson, E., and J. Wimp. 1979. Against Infinity: An Anthology of Contemporary

Mathematical Poetry. Parker Ford, PA: Primary Press. Ernest Robson and Jet Wimp
have undertaken a mission to bring about a reunion of the sciences and the arts that
would rival that of the metaphysical poets. "As co-editors of an anthology which
attempts once again to reconcile these willful disciplines, we feel we should declare
ourselves," they say in their introduction. They define mathematical poetry as "an
association of mathematical concepts, relationships, symbols or forms with
interesting verbalizations and/or graphic components." They present mathematical
poetry in three contemporary forms: sound poetry, visual (concrete) poetry, and
25

conventional poetry (free or rhymed verse). Students will be very attracted to this
visually and intellectually playful anthology.

Rubenstein, R. N., and R. K. Schwartz. 2000. "Word Histories: Melding Mathematics

and Meanings." Mathematics Teacher 93 (8): 664669. A wonderful article getting at
mathematics through the words it uses. Enlightening, practical, and entertaining, it
provides ideas for a level of understanding that should be a part of every
mathematical classroom.

Sears, P. 1986. Secret Writing: Keys to the Mysteries of Reading and Writing. New York:
Teachers & Writers. Peter Sears demonstrates how codes and ciphers work to help us
understand the conventions of English as well as other languages, give us access to
works of literature, understand the "language of numbers" more thoroughly, and
interpret the signs and behaviors around us. Here is a shift-coded message to readers
about our idealistic curricular ideas. It is a plus-four code using the English alphabet:

HVIEQ SR
Here is another coded message, for which the reader must find the key:
SREMAERD EHT OT SGNOLEB EFIL

Schifter, D. 1996. "A Constructivist Perspective on Teaching and Learning

Mathematics." In Constructivism: Theory, Perspectives and Practice, ed. C. T.
Fosnot. New York: Teachers College Press. On Ian Hauser's reading list for those
interested in constructivist theory (see his chapter, "Every Class Is an English Class").
26

Schneider, M. S. 1994. A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe: The

Mathematical Archetypes of Nature, Art and Science. New York: HarperCollins. To
quote the cover copy, Michael S. Schneider "leads us on a spectacular, lavishly
illustrated journey along the numbers one through ten to explore the mathematical
principles made visible in flowers, shells, crystals, plants, and the human body,
expressed in the symbolic language of folk sayings and fairy tales, myth and religion,
art and architecture. This is a new view of mathematics, not the one we learned at
school but a comprehensive guide to the patterns that recur through the universe and
underlie human affairs." It may not be the view of math we learned in school but it
should be.

Seidel, S., and J. Walters, E. Kirby, N. Olff, K. Powell, L. Scripp, I. S. Veenema. 1997.
Portfolio Practices: Thinking Through the Assessment of Children's Work.
Washington, DC: National Education Association. Steve Seidel and collaborators
have produced a thought-provoking manual that proves useful for integrating
portfolio practice within and across the disciplines. I have used it to help support
changes in schools seeking to become more reflective in their practice.

Singh, S. 1997. Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest
Mathematical Problem. New York: Doubleday. Another of the books that
transformed the culture of Tammy Vu's classroom (see her chapter, "'I Would Have
Laughed. . .': A Classroom Transformed by Literature") as well as my own
experience of mathematics. It delivers deep pleasures in its evocation of the history of
27

an idea, its descriptions of historical figures and eras, and its dramatic rendering of
the story of Andrew Wiles' ultimate solution to Fermat's last theorem. Part of the
magic of this book is in its subject; the theorem is so simple and its solution so
complex that it reads like a great mystery. It is in Singh's book that I discovered the
intriguing life of the young political martyr and great mathematician variste Galois,
who attempted, at the age of twenty, to write down all his mathematical ideas the
night before the duel that killed him. (Talk about your last-minute term paper!) Singh
quotes a tragically moving note he wrote to his friends:

I beg my patriots, my friends, not to reproach me for dying otherwise than for my
country. I died the victim of an infamous coquette and her two dupes. It is in a
miserable piece of slander that I end my life. Oh! Why die for something so little,
so contemptible? I call on heaven to witness that only under compulsion and force
have I yielded to a provocation which I have tried to avert by every means.

Surely such passions, when discovered by students, will help humanize the discipline.

Smith. F. 1975. Comprehension and Learning: A Conceptual Framework for Teachers.

New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. This and the following Smith work are on
Ian Hauser's reading list for those interested in constructivist theory (see his chapter,
"Every Class Is an English Class").

. 1994. Understanding Reading. Hilldale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.

28

Stewart, I. 1995. Nature's Numbers: The Unreal Reality of Mathematical Imagination.

New York: Basic Books. An uncomplicated explanation of how mathematics helps us
interpret the natural world. Demonstrates what mathematics has done for human
understanding and touches on the role of math in human culture. Great book for
independent reading and inquiry projects like those recommended by Susan
Wildstrom in Sylvia Gross' chapter, "From Windex to Wildstrom: Conversations with
My Teacher."

Stigler, J. W. and J. Hiebert. 1999. The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World's
Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom. New York: The Free Press.
Drawing on the conclusions of the Third International Mathematics and Science
Study (TIMSS) that reform is called for in mathematics education, James W. Stigler
and James Hiebert study teaching as it is actually practiced in math classrooms in
Germany, Japan, and the United States. They ultimately recommend a constructivist
approach based on the Japanese practice of "Lesson Study." Although they do not
look closely at the interdisciplinary themes of this work they nevertheless
demonstrate that students learn best when they are given the chance to undertake their
own explorations within a rigorous academic context. They also demonstrate the
value of a continuous process of school-based professional development. Anyone
interested in school reform needs to be familiar with this book.

Thompson, C. L., and J. S. Zeuli. 1997. The Frame and the Tapestry: Standards-Based
Reform and Professional Development. Ann Arbor: Michigan State University.

29

Recommended by Matt Wayne in his chapter, "Getting Smarter: A Seventh-Grade

Class Researches and Reflects on Its Discussion Habits."

Tobias, S. 1993. Overcoming Math Anxiety (Revised and Expanded). New York: W. W.
Norton & Co., Inc. A seminal book, and origin of the household term. If teaching
math has become more humane, a good percentage of the responsibility can probably
be ascribed to this book. She asked the question, "Why do otherwise intelligent
adults, people who do well in subjects they like, have a specific disability in
mathematics?" She proved the answer to be not that they didn't have the necessary
"cognitive equipment" but that they didn't believe they had it. Ambiguity, intuition,
self-knowledge, gender bias, language, thought patterns . . . all play a role in the
learning, appreciation, and performance of mathematics, and Tobias shows just how.
She sees the different talents in different fields as "beacons in a continuum of human
curiosity in search of meaning." The opening paragraph of Chapter 4 in Overcoming
Math Anxiety reads: "Every concept in mathematics has two histories. The first is the
story of how, during the 10,000 or so years of human history, certain ideas slowly
emerged to make sense of the numerical relationships in the world around us. The
second is a personal history of how each of us, guided by all the discoveries that were
made before we were born, struggle individually to make sense of that world of
numbers for ourselves." Tobias is the cofounder of the innovative Math Anxiety
Clinic and author of an equally powerful sequel: Succeed with Math: Every Student's
Guide to Conquering Math Anxiety (which has an extraordinarily clear and useful
section on how to read mathematics texts using a "kit-building" metaphor).

30

Treisman, U. 1992. "Studying Students Studying Calculus: A Look at the Lives of

Minority Math Students in College." College Mathematical Journal. 23(5), 362372.
Recommended by Sylvia Gross in her chapter, "From Windex to Wildstrom:
Conversations with My Teacher."

Tsuruda, G. 1994. Putting It Together: Middle School Math in Transition. Gary Tsuruda
uses the panoply of ideas discussed (inadvertently but not coincidentally) in this book
to transform the culture of his middle school math classroom. Readers will get a good
idea of how it all comes together to make sense in his book.

Venables, D. R., and G. Peters. 1996. "Innovation and Practice: Changing Thinking and
Practice in Two Math Departments." Writing Within School Reform (6). Providence,
RI: The Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Two teachers talk persuasively of
integrating portfolios and accomplishing change in the cultures of their classrooms
and schools.

Von Glasersfeld, E. 1996. "Introduction: Aspects of Constructivism." In Constructivism:

Theory, Perpectives and Practice, ed. C. T. Fosnot. New York: Teachers College
Press. On Ian Hauser's reading list for those interested in constructivist theory (see his
chapter, "Every Class Is an English Class").

Vygotsky. L. 1978. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological

Processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. On Ian Hauser's reading list for

31

those interested in constructivist theory (see his chapter, "Every Class Is an English
Class").

Wiggins, G., and J. McTighe. 1998. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA:

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. After a study of Grant
Wiggins and Jay McTighe's curricular ideas, a teacher I know and respect said, "You
don't need anything else." This is another "must read," or, perhaps more to the point,
"must understand," if one is to meaningfully integrate the disciplines in the schools.
The simple premise of the work is that educators need to figure out what they want
students to understand and how they will be assessed before planning activities. The
authors tease apart understanding from knowledge and skills, and demonstrate the
function of essential questions in getting to the understanding. As a staff developer I
have used the book's concepts extensively to help teachers plan for the deepest
possible engagement of their students.

Learning needs to be more experiential, more geared toward making students directly
confront the effectsand affectof decisions, ideas, theories, and problems. The
absence of experience in learning may explain why so many important ideas are
misunderstood and learnings so fragile, as the misconception literature reveals. (57)

The authors are clearly aware of the significance of the "continuum of experience"
discussed by Dewey in Experience and Education, which is so much at the heart of
this book.

32

Wildstrom, S. 1999. "Encouraging an Enjoyment of Mathematics through Reading and

Writing." Mathematical Association of America. Recommended by Sylvia Gross in
her chapter, "From Windex to Wildstrom: Conversations with My Teacher."

Worsley, D., and B. Mayer. 1989. The Art of Science Writing. New York: Teachers &
Writers. A compendium of ideas, samples, and bibliographic references for writing in
science and mathematics. A writing workshop plan is followed by specific ideas for
writing experiments. A FAQ section gets to the most common challenges of writing
in the math and science classroom. Samples of writing from scientists,
mathematicians, students, journalists, and poets provide models. An extensive
bibliography helps orient interested parties to the literature.

Zinn, H. 1995. A People's History of the United States: 1942Present. New York:
HarperCollins. Howard Zinn keeps the mathematics of history in mind without fail
when he recounts historic events. How many people, of what description, were
involved in, or affected by, events? It is a soberingly democratic approach that takes
the gloss off idealization and puts backbone into the true potential of democracy to
account for and empower all citizens. The following short passage early on in the
book illustrates how he disabuses us of our myths and helps us get to the truths that
have the potential to liberate us politically and morally. Note that there is a kind of
"number sense" to historical thinking, without which history is but mythmaking.

When he arrived on Hispaniola in 1508 Las Casas says, "there were 60,000
people living on this island, including the Indians; so that from 1494 to 1508, over
33

three million people had perished from war, slavery and the mines. Who in future
generations will believe this? I myself writing it as a knowledgable eyewitness
can hardly believe it. . . ."
Thus began the history, five hundred years ago, of European invasion of
the Indian settlements in the Americas. That beginning, when you read Las
Casaseven if his figures are exaggerations (were there 3 million Indians to
begin with, as he says, or less than a million, as some historians have calculated,
or 8 million as others now believe?)is conquest, slavery, and death. When we
read the history books given to children in the United States, it all starts with
heroic adventurethere is no bloodshedand Columbus Day is a celebration. (7)

34

Websites

General
http://www.joma.org (Journal of Online Mathematics Applicationsapplets)
http://www.maa.org (Mathematical Association of America)
http://www.ams.org (American Mathematical Society)
http://www.awm-math.org (Association for Women in Mathematics)
http://www.enc.org/ (assorted mathematical sites and activities)
http://mathforum.org/~steve/ (Geometry Forum)
http://www.math.psu.edu/MathLists/Contents.html (Penn State)
http://euclid.math.fsu.edu/Science/math.html (Florida State)
http://www.geom.umn.edu/ (The Geometry Center)
http://camel.math.ca/Education/MallMath/ (Canadian site with math activities)
http://www.tc.cornell.edu/Services/Edu/MathSciGateway/math.asp (Theory Center)
http://www.npac.syr.edu/textbook/kidsweb/math.html (need to push the STOP key)
http://math.nist.gov/gams/
http://www.math.cudenver.edu/w4t/
http://galileo.imss.firenze.it/museo/4/index.html

Precalculus
http://www.math.toronto.edu/mathnet/answer.html (infinity)
http://members.tripod.com/~Paul_Kirby/vector/Vdotproduct.html
http://mecca.org/~halfacre/MATH/vector.htm
http://www.ti.com/calc/
35

http://www.jalacy.com (conic sections)

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/topics/ConicSections.html
http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/projects.old/classes/ma8/papers/dmargalit/
http://www.sisweb.com/math/algebra/conics.htm
http://www.mathforum.org/dr.math/
http://www.sosmath.com/calculus/geoser/geoser01.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/math/precalc/sequencesandseries/summary.html
http://www.schoolnet.ca/vp-pv/amof/index.html (combinations, permutations, etc.)
http://www.distancemath.com/preview/unit1/funct3.htm (functions)
http://dosxx.colorado.edu/~atlas/math/math81.html (logarithms)
http://engineering.uow.edu.au/Courses/Stats/File2419.html (combinations)
http://www.hoxie.org/math/algebra/sequen.htm

Calculus
http://www.hofstra.edu/~matscw/realworld.html (calculus "help" tutorials)
http://www.eyesoftime.com/teacher/math.htm (calculus)
http://www.seresc.k12.nh.us/www/alvirne.html (AP calculus site run by high school)
http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.calculus/ (distance learning lessons in calculus)
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/Class/CalculusProbs (calculus problems at Rose-Hulman)
http://www.hsu.edu/faculty/lloydm/ti/prgmtabl.html
http://www.integrals.com (Mathematica website that will integrate)
http://www.uncwil.edu/courses/webcalc
http://www.wshs.fcps.k12.va.us/academic/math/staff/mdeegan/apcalc/notebook.htm
(summary sheet of ideas for AP exam)
36

http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/CalcTwoDIRECTORY/
http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/ProblemsList.html
http://www.math.psu.edu/dna/graphics.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/10030/calcucon.htm (general calculus materials)
http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.calculus/3/mvt.3/index.html (mean value theorem)
http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/calc/rolhei/rolhei.html (mean value theorem applet)
http://www.math.hmc.edu/calculus/tutorials/ (Harvey Mudd College tutorials)

Multivariable Calculus and Other Advanced Applications

http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/calc/index.html (Java applets on assorted topics)
http://smard.cqu.edu.au/Database/Teaching (Java applets to support math education)
http://www.utc.edu/~cpmawata/
http://www.math.cudenver.edu/w4t/
http://www.mcasco.com/p1va.html (vectors)
http://mecca.org/~halfacre/MATH/vector.htm
http://www.sosmath.com/diffeq/diffeq.html (differential equations)
http://math.stcc.mass.edu/CalculusIII/157.html (tangent planes and extrema)
http://www.math.arizona.edu/~vector/Block2/pder/pder.html (partial derivatives)
http://www.math.gatech.edu/~carlen/2507/notes/lagMultipliers.html (Lagrange
multipliers)
http://web.mit.edu/wwmath/vectorc/index.html
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~ronmiech/Actuarial_Review/Multi_Var_Calc/Master/Master.
html (practice problemsmultiple choice with explanations)

37

Puzzles and Problem Solving

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/4661/index.html (Olympiad problems)
http://www.mandelbrot.org (Mandelbrot competition)
http://www.mathcounts.org (MathCounts competition)
http://www.math.smsu.edu/~les/POTW.html (Southern Missouri State math problem of
the week)
http://www.olemiss.edu/mathed/contest
http://www.math.hmc.edu/funfacts
http://www.kent.wednet.edu/pcpow (Kent County, WA, physics and math problem of the
weekprizes for correct answers!)
http://www.mathwright.com (source of computer notebooks and books for all)
http://www.mathnerds.com
http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/~elf/abacus/
http://members.aol.com/rmathmania/index.htm
http://www.ti.com/calc
http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fib.html (introduction to
Fibonacci numbers)

History
http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/sruniverse.html (slide rules)
http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/mathhist.html (math history)
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/math.htm (Public Broadcasting Service)
http://world.std.com/~reinhold/mathmovies.html (mathematics in movies)
http://www.mathnews.uwaterloo.ca/
38

Susan Wildstrom's Recommended Reading List

Books
Abbott, Edwin: Flatland
Barrow, John D.: Pi in the Sky
Berlinski, David: A Tour of the Calculus
Conway and Guy: The Book of Numbers
Courant and Robbins: What is Mathematics?
Dudley, Underwood: The Trisectors, Mathematical Cranks
Dunham, William: Journey Through Genius, Euler The Master of Us All
Friedberg, Richard: An Adventurer's Guide to Number Theory
Gamov, George: One, Two Three, Infinity, Mr Tompkins
Gardner, Martin: Diversions from Scientific American, Mathematical Circus,
Mathematical Carnival, Mathematical Magic Show, aha! Insight, ah! Gotcha, etc.
Gleick, James: Genius
Golomb, Solomon: Polyominoes
Hardy, G. H.: A Mathematician's Apology
Hoffman, Paul: Archimedes' Revenge, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers
Hoffstadter, Douglas: Goedel, Escher, Bach; Metamagical Themas
Honsberger, Ross: Ingenuity in Mathematics and other books
Kanigel, Robert: The Man Who Knew Infinity

39

Knuth, Donald: Surreal Numbers

Krause, Eugene: Taxicab Geometry
Larson, Loren: Problem Solving Through Problems
Logsdon, Mayme: A Mathematician Explains
Maor, Eli, e: The story of a number, To Infinity and Beyond, Trigonometric Delights
Nahim, Paul,

1 : An Imaginary Tale

Pappus, Theoni: The Joy of Mathematics, More Joy of Mathematics, Mathematical

Scandals
Paulos, John Allen: Innumeracy; Beyond Numeracy; A Mathematician Reads the
Newspaper; Once Upon a Number
Polya, George: How to Solve It
Rademacher, Hans, and Otto Toeplitz: The Enjoyment of Mathematics
Rusczyk, Richard, and Sandor Rehovsky: The Art of Problem Solving
Schechter, Bruce: My Brain is Open
Smullyan, Raymond: What is the Name of This Book, This Book Has No Name, Alice in
Puzzleland, The Lady or The Tiger, To Mock A Mockingbird, and other books.
Stewart, Ian: The Mathematical Tourist, Islands of Truth, and other books.
Sved, Martha: Journey into Geometries
The Trachtenberg System of Speed Mathematics
Wells, David: You Are a Mathematician
Wickelgren, Wayne: How to Solve Problems

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Journals and Magazines

College Mathematics Journal
Crux Mathematicorum
Discover
Math Horizons
Mathematics & Informatics Quarterly
Mathematics Magazine
Quantum
Science
Scientific American
The Arithmetic Teacher
The Mathematics Teacher

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Websites: Extensions and Connections

Matthew Szenher conducted a special investigation of certain websites for Teaching for
Depth. His ideas are reported here.

I took on the task of investigating Internet content for Teaching for Depth, understanding
the theme of the book to be this: If teachers help their students overcome the "otherness"
of mathematics and employ interdisciplinary practices, their students are more likely to
become curious and confident seekers of truth. In my investigation I tapped into
numerous sites and generally found them only superficially representative of this theme.
Take, for example, the page Mathematics in the Movies at
http://world.std.com/~reinhold/mathmovies.html. Initially I thought, "Wow, kids like
movies. This is a great interdisciplinary approach to inspire students to think about deep
questions." Unfortunately, the site offers no opinion on how to use movies to enrich
learning experiences. Nor do movies, as is clear from the site, ever delve into the use of
math in real and profound ways. Mathematical genius is usually just an easily dramatized
character trait. Most of the other sites that I found have the same problem: superficially
interesting content that on closer inspection offers little that is pedagogically useful.
On the other hand I found a few sites to be interesting because they led me to
people and organizations that truly seemed to embody, clarify, or extend the book's
themes. I've reviewed some of these sites below as a starting point for readers' own
Internet journeys. If I've learned one thing about the Internet in this experience, it is this:
one good site will almost invariably lead to more quality content. I caution that there is

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plenty of detritus on the Internet, but, occasionally, you find a cache of sites that will
change the way you teach.

The Writings of Stephen I. Brown at

http://members.tripod.com/mumnet/sibrown/sib001.html. Several of the eight essays at
this site overlap the themes of this book. Of these, the piece entitled "Toward Humanistic
Mathematics Education" is the most relevant (see the annotated bibliography). In it,
Brown attempts "to elaborate upon the concept of humanistic mathematics education"
(HME). He defines HME initially as a reaction to the traditional characterization of
mathematics as "a depersonalized, uncontextualized, noncontroversial and asocial form
of knowledge." Brown concedes that describing, placing, and defending HME is an
"enormous" task. This essay is indeed quite wordy and complex, requiring
uncompromised attention.
Ultimately Brown argues that HME would "inject a strong sense of personhood
into the doing of mathematics" and would encourage "creating or seeking heuristics that
enable one to face what is unknown (maybe unknowable)." HME also cultivates a
"sophisticated view of what might be involved in applying mathematics to the 'real
world.'" All this is in opposition to liberal mathematics education in which mathematics
is conveyed merely as exercises in deductive logic.
That mathematics is isolated and depersonalized, Brown argues, stems in fact
from the identification of deductive logic "as its distinguishing feature." The primacy of
logic, though, is "more fragile than we are led to believe" (though still a "critical
component of mathematical thought"). He asks, "If logic were all there were to
mathematics, couldn't a computer do research in the field just as effectively as a human?"
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Computer scientists have tried to create computerized mathematicians and failed because,
for one, computers lack the aesthetic sense to choose interesting problems to explore.
With this and other evidence, Brown calls the primacy of deductive logic in mathematics,
and in mathematics education, into question. Having demoted logic, Brown asks what
should supplement it.
Reviewing the history of mathematics education, with particular attention paid to
Dewey and related philosophers, Brown concludes that problem solving is an essential
part of mathematics. If taught constructively, an emphasis on problem solving leads to
partial fulfillment of Brown's ideal HME and provides a "view of mathematics that far
outstrips the notion of mathematics as deductive logic." After all, "there is a world of
difference between thinking of mathematics as either following or offering a logically
deductive pristine argument and creating or seeking heuristics that enable one to face
what is unknown (maybe unknowable)."
Still, "the concept [HME] is in need of major surgery." He argues that
mathematics education should be imbued "with a sense of purpose," though there are
difficulties in explaining purpose to a lay audience of students. Brown deftly describes
these problems.
This and some other of Brown's essays augment the material in this book, and
vice versa. Brown lacks detailed examples of HME, something we have in abundance.
Brown, on the other hand, presents a history of HME, whereas we do not. Brown's HME
and our concept of teaching for depth are surely fraternal, if not identical, twins. One
could certainly learn much about the one by studying the other.

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The Humanistic Mathematics Network

S. I. Brown, in "Toward Humanistic Mathematics Education," describes an association

called The Humanistic Mathematics Network who are (to quote Brown) "devoted to an
exploration of the relationship of mathematics to the humanities in a number of
philosophically interesting ways." (See the annotated bibliography for more on the
Humanistic Mathematics Network.)
The members of the Humanistic Mathematics Network desire their
students/classrooms to be/have:

historical orientation; mathematics as a "human" endeavor;

cooperative learning groups;

a variety of assessment techniques, not just written tests;

teacher/student and student/student interaction;

surveys of student attitudes and opinions;

interesting problems and open-ended questions, not just exercises;

humor;

attention to aesthetics;

somewhat student driven;

student ownership of mathematics, opportunity to create their own

meanings;

students actively involved in learning, not just passive consumers;

stimulating classroom environment;

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access to and appropriate use of tools and technology;

personal involvement and caring;

less time restraints on examinations;

time for reflection.

(from http://www.cord.edu/faculty/haglund/hm.html)

Although there are numerous references to the HMN on the Internet, the network
itself doesn't seem to have an online presence. There is a collection of HMN essays and
contacts at http://mathforum.org/mathed/humanistic.math.html.

The Math Forum at http://mathforum.org/

My search for the Humanistic Mathematics Network online led me to the Swarthmore
College Online Math Forum, which seems to be the mathematics education portal on the
Internet. A subsection of the site is devoted to humanistic mathematics
(http://mathforum.org/mathed/humanistic.math.html), and other sections of interest to our
readers are:

calculus reform (http://mathforum.org/mathed/calculus.reform.html)

constructivism (http://mathforum.org/mathed/constructivism.html)

interdisciplinary studies
(http://mathforum.org/mathed/interdisciplinary.math.html)

math education reform

(http://mathforum.org/mathed/math.education.reform.html)

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These sections contain discussions of the history, goals, and efficacy of their
particular umbrella subject. Some, like the section on interdisciplinary studies, contain
lesson plans.
My experience with the forum has been frustrating. The forum like other online
resources contains copious information but appears to be unrefereed. There are many
oysters and few pearls, and the entries can be as tedious to read as oysters are hard to
open.

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