Grades 7-12
10 mathematicians – 115 pages

Did you know that Isaac Newton was inspired to study mathematics after a fight with the school bully, or that Maria Agnesi solved problems in her sleep? Sophie Germain worked on mathematics secretly by candlelight, and Blaise Pascal made one of his greatest discoveries because of a toothache. You might be surprised to learn that Albert Einstein didn’t do very well in school and that Descartes got a great idea by watching a fly.

Behind every mathematical discovery there is a story, often a fascinating story. Historical Connections in Mathematics explores this intriguing linkage between history and mathematics. This rich collection of resources includes biographical information, famous quotations, and interesting anecdotes from the lives of 30 mathematicians (ten in each volume).

Each chapter includes four to six ready-to-use classroom activities related to the work of the featured mathematician. These reproducible activity sheets range from problem-solving exercise to hands-on learning experiences and skits. Teachers will enjoy the adaptability of these activity sheets that can easily be adjusted to a wide range of ability and experience levels. Complete solutions and suggestions for use are included.

Mathematicians included in this series are:
•    Volume I: Pythagoras, Archimedes, Napier, Galileo, Fermat, Pascal, Newton, Euler, Gauss, and Germain
•    Volume II: Thales, Euclid, Heron, Hypatia, Banneker, Babbage, Galois, Lovelace, Kovalevsky, and Ramanujan
•    Volume III: Venn, Erathosthenes, Fibonacci, Descartes, Agnesi, Lagrange, Somerville, Dodgson, Noether, and Polya