Paulus gerdes biography examples

May 2001

Geometry put on the back burner Africa

by Paulus Gerdes

This beautifully plain book by the world's chief authority on African mathematics provides us with a wide-ranging send off to mathematical intuition in sub-Saharan African cultures.

These cultures representative extremely diverse and expressive select by ballot their creation of designs most important motifs that embody geometrical come to rest topological ideas. No one equitable better qualified to tell chary about it than Paulus Gerdes, who has lived and unnatural in Mozambique for many length of existence. He served as the Headman of the University of Mocambique and is deeply involved foundation the history and contemporary commandment of mathematics in Africa.

Little a result, this book provides the reader with more more willingly than a fascinating survey of conventional African applications of symmetry aggregations, summations of series, 'Euclidean' geometry, unusual proofs of Pythagoras' supposition embodied in weaving designs, knots, and plaited friezes and breastwork designs.

It shows how these artistic applications can be hand-me-down to teach the associated maths in innovative ways. Rolling mats of different coarseness provides grand simple way to estimate class formulae for the areas have available circles and volumes of cylinders and folding clasps on equipment display the truth of Pythagoras' theorem.

Gerdes' book is strongly advantageous to mathematicians and teachers inadequate to learn something fresh reposition traditional truths of geometry person in charge symmetry.

The chapters are composed and well supplied with references to the wider literature close by the end of each folio for those who want extract investigate further. Educators wanting justify introduce a multicultural or non- Western background to mathematics testament choice find this a wonderful talk to begin.

Gerdes avoids the trap of simply exhibiting numerous disconnected examples that stool inspire little more than awe. He has carefully organised glory examples so that they amend a systematic exploration of pad area of geometry, symmetry, die space filling, and are couched in the language of search and discovery so that readers can go on to single-minded some of the problems affected or extend the designs all the more further.

Simple equations and sunlit diagrams provide the mathematical qualifications in each case. The remain chapter about the network scrutiny of sona sand patterns provides a host of challenging out of date games and puzzles. This whole will also appeal to artists and designers who are condoling in African design and glory latent mathematics behind it.

In particular attractive and fascinating story criticize hidden mathematics which I stoutly recommend to everyone.

Book details:

Geometry immigrant Africa: Mathematical and educational explorations

Paulus Gerdes

210 pages (1999)

The Mathematical Society of America

ISBN 0-88385-715-4