Library Assignment #1. Your Mathematician

Your Name:____________________________

Math 311 History of Mathematics. Due Jan. 30, 1998. Prof. Rickey

Your Mathematician (YM) is ___________________________________

O. Look up YM in our text. Read the relevant pages and take notes.

1. Look up YM in the Dictionary of Scientific Biography. The article is in volume ______, pages ____________, and is by_______________________________. You should read the article and take notes.

2. Look up YM in an encyclopedia. On a slip give the name of the encyclopedia, date of publication, volume, pages, and author (signed articles are more reliable). Read the article and take notes.

3. Did you note any discrepancies between the above sources?______ If so, what?

4. Look up YM in Kenneth May's Bibliography and Research Manual of the History of Mathematics. The references are on pages ___________. Give one citation exactly as it appears there:

Decode it, giving the full journal title:

Look it up in the library and give the full title of the paper.

5. Prepare slips on the works by YM which are in the BGSU library? You need not do more than 5, even if there are more items.

6. Prepare slips on the works about YM in the library? Again, at most 5.

7. Have YM's collected works been published? __________ Make a slip if they have.

8. What languages did YM read and write? How do you know?

9. Look up an anecdote about YM in Howard Eves' Mathematical Circles Books. Give the volumes and page numbers where they appear.

10. Give a reference a journal article or book about YM that is not in the BGSU library (and tell where you found it; preferably via some electronic source).

11. Give the URL of two web sites that deal with YM. Did you note any discrepancies?

12. Write a short two page biography of YM. You will want to use some of the items you have located in your library search. See the syllabus for details. Remember to send it to our email list.

Note: You can return this assignment by writing on this sheet, or you can copy it off our web page, add the information to the text file and send it to me via email. You can either prepare the references on paper slips or send them via email.



If you have comments, send email to V. Frederick Rickey at rickey@math.bgsu.edu