Below you will find the plan of what we work on in each session. Subject to change.

#	Date	Meta-content	Content	Reading	Events
1	Mo 27/8	Format and overview of the course; requirements and assessment	Prehistoric mathematics (Babylon and Egypt). Numbers and counting; zero; positional systems. Scribes and mathematical training.	Katz, Ch. 1 Stedall, Ch. 1.1 Fauvel-Gray: Ch. 1.D, 1.E Slides: ishango.pdf, multiplication-table-babylon.pdf, Egypt.pdf
2	Th 30/8	How to write an essay: content, structure, argumentation, etc.; grading criteria	Ancient Greek mathematics. Reception of Babylonian & Egyptian mathematics. Where this knowledge came from & what it was used for. Scholarship in Greece and the culture of commentaries. Proofs, definitions, and axioms. Euclid's elements.	On essay writing: here and here. Katz, Ch. 2-6 (read excerpts), in particular Ch. 3 Stedall, Ch. I.2-3 Fauvel-Gray, Ch. 3.A, 3.B An online, browsable version of Euclid's Elements by David Joyce Slides:essay-writing.pdf, Elements.pdf	start essay 1
3	Mo 3/9	Approaches to a mathematical text; questions to ask.	equation solving. Mathematical competition, math as an art. conflict and stakes, claims and authorship.	On asking questions about a historical text: Wardhaugh Stedall, Ch. 1.4, 12.1 Katz, Ch. 9, 12.1-3 Slides: equations.pdf	quiz on ancient and Greek mathematics
4	Th 6/9	what is good & constructive peer review? Critical reading of sources	algebra vs geometry. Units: the megalithic unit Euclid, Descartes etc.	Fauvel-Gray, 1.C (megalithic unit), 3.G (opinions on Greek algebra vs geometry) Katz, 14.2 Stedall, Ch. 2.3	turn in essay 1 start essay 2
5	Mo 10/9	Approaches to a mathematical text; questions to ask.	the mathematical profession, motivations, careers: Fermat and friends; universities, monasteries	Stedall, 6.1 Katz, 14.4 Slides: fermat.pdf P. Tannery and C. Henry, Oeuvres de Fermat, Gauthier-Villars 1891 M. S. Mahoney, The mathematical career of Pierre de Fermat, 1601–1665, Princeton University Press, 1994	quiz on Arab and medieval mathematics and equation solving
6	Th 13/9	grading criteria for good peer review	The relations between mathematics, religion, and esoterics	Plato, The Meno dialog Steiner, Mathematics and Occultism	turn in essay 2 start peer review
7	Mo 17/9	dealing with peer review, rebuttals	The birth of calculus: infinitesimals, Newton, Leibniz	Stedall, Ch. 3–4 Katz, Ch. 15–16 Fauvel-Gray, 12.C Slides: towards-the-infinitesimally-small.pdf, indivisibles-backlash.pdf, Newton-Leibniz.pdf	end peer review start rebuttal
8	Th 20/9	analysis of sources wrt different aspects reading between the lines	The development of rigidity in mathematical arguments (with focus on calculus)	Stedall, Ch. 10-11,16 Katz, Ch. 22 Slides: rigor.pdf	end rebuttal start essay 3 SF2725: topic selection
9	Mo 24/9	Feedback on peer review and rebuttals. Critical reading of secondary sources.	Probability theory: games, bets, odds, combinatorics. What is applied and what is pure mathematics?	Stedall, Ch. 7 Katz, Ch. 14.3, 18 N. L. Rabinovitch, Probability and Statistical Inference in Ancient and Medieval Jewish Literature, University of Toronto Press, 1973 G. Reith, The Age of Chance: Gambling in Western Culture, Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought, 1999 Slides: probability.pdf	quiz on calculus
10	Th 27/9	analyzing a text with only partial understanding of the mathematics.	Equation solving part II: Abel, Galois, the birth of modern algebra. Genius and genius cult. Mathematics and politics, radicalism	Stedall, Ch. 12.3, 13 Katz, Ch. 21.2 Slides: galois.pdf	turn in essay 3 start peer review
11	Mo 1/10		Mathematics arising from Fermat's Last Theorem. The birth of abstract algebra. Women in mathematics: Germaine, Noether.	Stedall, Ch. 13.2 Katz, Ch. 21 Harold M. Edwards, Fermat's Last Theorem: A Genetic Introduction to Algebraic Number Theory, Springer GTM 50, 1977 Slides: fermats-last-theorem.pdf	end peer review start rebuttal
12	Th 4/10	how to do research like a historian; finding relevant sources	Mathematics, logic, and philosophy	Katz, Ch. 2.3, 21.3 William Ewald, From Kant to Hilbert: A Source Book in the Foundations of Mathematics, Vol. II, 1996. Ch. 24 (David Hilbert), 25 (L.E.J. Brouwer) Slides: logic.pdf	end rebuttal start essay 4
13	Mo 8/10		Mathematics and mathematical institutions in the 20th century Popular reception of mathematics	Slides: 20-century.pdf (not including the movie clips)	quiz on modern algebra and logic
14	Th 11/10	preparing for the exam; exam structure and past exams	The history of teaching mathematics	Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education, Stephen Lerman, ed. Springer 2014 Slides: teaching.pdf	turn in essay 4