Mathematical Lives: Biographies of Mathematicians

About this curriculum

The Mathematical Lives series is designed to help students see the people who developed math and show why they shaped the solutions we take for granted today. In so doing, the entire field of mathematics becomes more comprehensible and meaningful. The men and women who shaped mathematics were interesting people grappling with real problems, and their approaches to those problems on occasion led to new fields and new ways of thinking about math. The excitement and struggles of these people are lost in the ways we teach children about math. Here is a type of problem , we teach, and this is the formula to solve it . In that sort of teaching, the humanity that lies behind the math is obscured. The Mathematical Lives series is designed to help students see the people who developed math and show why they shaped the solutions we take for granted today. In so doing, the entire field of mathematics becomes more comprehensible and meaningful. There’s even a “Doing the Math” section at the end of each book, allowing readers the opportunity to try out some of the math themselves!