Project 3.1

What do the following people have in common?
Eamon de Valera, prime minister and past president of the Republic of Ireland
Tom Lehrer, songwriter-parodist
Edmund Husserl, the "Father of Phenomenology"
Frank Ryan, past quarterback for the Cleveland Browns

Project 3.2

Write a paper discussing the Egyptian method of multiplication.

References:

James Newman, The World of Mathematics, Vol. I (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956), pp. 170-178.
Howard Eves, Introduction to the History of Mathematics, 3rd ed. (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1969).

Project 3.3

What are some of the significant events in the development of mathematics? Who are some of the famous people who have contributed to mathematical knowledge?

References:

Howard Eves, In Mathematical Circles, Vols. 1 and 2 (Boston: Prindle, Weber, & Schmidt, 1969), Mathematical Circles Revisited (1971), Mathematical Circles Adieu (1977).

Virginia Newell et al., Black Mathematicians and Their Works (Ardmore, PA: Dorrence & Company, 1980).

Mona Fabricant, Sylvia Svitak, and Patricia Clark Kenschaft, "Why Women Succeed in Mathematics," Mathematics Teacher, February 1990, pp. 150-154 (with references).

Project 3.4

Is it possible to have a numeration system with a base that is negative? Before you answer, see "Numeration Systems with Unusual Bases," by David Ballew, in The Mathematics Teacher, May 1974, pp. 413-414. Study the topic of negative bases, and present a report to the class.

Project 3.5

"I became operational at the HAL Plant in Urbana, Ill., on January 12, 1997," the computer HAL declares in Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now that time has passed and many advances have been made in computer technology between 1968 and today. Write a paper showing the similarities and differences between HAL and the computers of today.

Project 3.6

"Software bugs can have devastating effects, for example the Y2K Millennium Bug. During the Persian Gulf War, a bug prevented a Patriot missile from firing at an incoming Iraqi Scud missile, which crashed into an Army barracks, killing 28 people. Another example involves Ashton-Tate company that never recovered its reputation after shipping bug-filled accounting software to its customers. Do some research to find recent (within the last 5 years) examples of major problems caused by software bugs.

Project 3.7

Build a working model of Napier's rods.

Project 3.8

Write a paper and prepare a classroom demonstration on the use of an abacus. Build your own device as a project.

Project 3.9

Write a paper regarding the inverntion of the first electonic computer.

Project 3.10

Visit a computer store, talk to a salesperson about the available computers, and then write a paper on your experiences.

Project 3.11

Write a history of the held-held calculator.

Project 3.12

Find out what local, state, and federal governments have stored in their computers about you and your family. Find out what you can see and what others can see. This will provide you with an interesting intellectual journey, if you wish to take it.