History of Mathematics Teacher Resources

Students become familiar with the sacrifices that the migrants endured crossing the plains to the west. They experience some of the problem solving that the pioneers faced and pay the natural consequences of their choices.

Students explore the concept of Chinese contributions in mathematics. In this Chinese contributions in mathematics lesson, students research Chinese achievements in mathematics. Students solve 3x3 systems of equations using the method...

Pupils examine how ancient Maya counted, and practice addition and subtraction using Maya number glyphs.

Short selections from W. W. Rouse Ball's "A Short Account of the History of Mathematics," most of which are biographies that focus on the mathematician's work. The text can be read online or downloaded by individual chapters in MP3 or...

This site presents a brief history of ancient Egyptian mathematics.

The University of St. Andrews, Scotland, presents hundreds of biographies of famous mathematicians, histories of math in various cultures, and interesting facts on the development of important math concepts. This is a huge reference....

Find the information you need about math history, from Archimedes to Fermat. A great resource for studying the foundations of today's world of mathematics.

A biography of Cavalieri that includes information on his principle or "indivisibles." From a 1904 text by W. W. Rouse Ball.

On this site, there are several math problems to explore and solve. Look through some solutions by famous mathematicians and expand your thinking about some interesting math concepts. Teachers of elementary grades may want to use this...

Biography of Dutch mathematician Christiaan Huygens. Hyperlinks to related information.

Resources for learning about the history of mathematics in ancient Africa, specifically the diaspora. Looks at the prejudices that existed in past centuries towards African people, at mathematical discoveries and artifacts from Africa...

From the MacTutor History of Mathematics website, this page allows students to see the Edinburgh home of the 19th century Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

A short biographical sketch of the life and work of Ole Roemer (1652-1719 CE). Identifies his scientific discoveries and contributions in astronomy.

A short sketch of the life and work of Thomas Young (1773-1829 CE). Traces early upbringing and education and his scientific discoveries and contributions.

A good starting point for research into the history of Mathematics. Information is organized into time periods with lists of famous mathematicians and scientists.

This site contains biographical information and works of the mathematician Abraham DeMoivre.

The events of the life of Pierre de Fermat are presented in a timeline form. The biographical information is taken from "A Short Account of the History of Mathematics" by W. W. Rouse Ball (4th Edition, 1908).

The events of the life of Pierre Laplace are presented in a timeline form. The biographical information is taken from "A Short Account of the History of Mathematics" by W. W. Rouse Ball (4th Edition, 1908).

Describes India's contribution to mathematics.

MathWorld provides a huge mathematics encyclopedia detailing the concepts of geometry, algebra, calculus, discrete math, number theory, and other math topics--complete with formulas, diagrams, examples, and references for thorough...

Describes the history of Greek mathematics and the major figures and schools of mathematics.

Travel through time and explore the greatest mathematicians and the biggest mathematical discoveries in history. Click on any name for brief biographical details.

In Spanish. Offers brief mathematical histories beginning with Egypt and Babylon up through the 19th century.

A timeline of scientific discoveries and theories of the ancient Greeks. It covers the period from 585 BC to 150 AD, with three additional entries for related events in the 1900s. Each entry has links to additional content on the website...