In my first blog post I thought that math history could be a valuable addition to the regular math curriculum because I think its important to understand how and why mathematics has arrived at its current state. I still hold this belief, and I'm thankful that this course has provided a plethora of historical contexts for modern day mathematics, particularly the arbitrary side of mathematics (as discussed in 342). I look forward to introducing new concepts to my students through their historical background and discovery, perhaps replicating the historical context to do so.
I think the course met all its content objectives. I think it would've been worthwhile to have the occasional extra Monday class in order to fit in all the time periods mentioned in the course outline. Unless I'm forgetting something we missed out on early cartographic cultures, Vedic math, and early modern to contemporary math. Some of these were covered in some capacity by student presentations, but I think it would've been beneficial to have them all discussed in class sessions as well.
Thanks very much for your thoughtful comments and suggestions, Max! I like your suggestion about holding a few of the extra Monday classes to cover more of the course content, beyond what could be communicated through student projects. It was a judgement call in this COVID year, when I didn't want people to experience 'Zoom fatigue' but still wanted to work with all these important ideas. I'll do my best to include more next year!
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