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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Approximately when did Copernicus live?
2. In September of 1997, a crewmember entered a zero into the database field on the computers of the USS Yorktown, leading to what type of error?
3. The ancient Babylonians had a number system based on what increment?
4. In what written work did Aristotle describe Zeno of Elea’s paradox of motion?
5. The preclassic Maya and their neighbors supposedly developed the concept of zero by what year?
Short Essay Questions
1. What mathematical properties of zero presented problems in the ancient world, according to the author in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?
2. What Italian mathematician was responsible for the introduction of zero to Christianity and the Western world, according to the author in Chapter 3, “Nothing Ventured”?
3. What is the focus of the book, as established by the author in Chapter 0, “Null and Void”?
4. How did Filippo Brunelleschi introduce the concept of zero to the Italian Renaissance?
5. How did mathematics and the concept of zero evolve in India through the 5th Century AD?
6. How does the author describe the ancient Greek and Roman mathematical systems in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?
7. How did the Protestant Reformation influence the Aristotelian philosophy in the West?
8. What caused the USS Yorktown to have a computer meltdown in 1997, according to the author in Chapter 0, “Null and Void”? How is the ship described?
9. What reason does the author give for why the Greeks and Romans resisted using zero in their mathematical systems in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?
10. How does the author describe the early counting systems of prehistoric mathematics in Chapter 1, “Nothing Doing”?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the origins, development, and contributions of Babylonian mathematics. How did the Babylonian numeral system differ from that of the ancient Egyptians? Where has most of our information of Babylonian mathematics been derived?
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the work of Sir Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Johannes Kepler, and the origins and development of calculus. When did Newton and Leibniz independently create calculus? What conflict occurred between the two? When did this conflict end?
Essay Topic 3
Discuss the origins, history, and evolution of mathematics in ancient Egypt. How was geometry developed in Egypt? How did the Egyptians use mathematics in the creation of the pyramids? How did the Nile relate to their use of mathematics?
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This section contains 833 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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