mathematician at work
TRANSCRIPT
Mathematicians at Work:
What do they do, anyway?
Mathematicians often work hours, days, or even years on a single problem.
Students think…“Usually with math problems, you find the answer and move on to the next problem.”
French lawyer and mathematician
Wrote this theorem in the margin of a book
Said he had a proof, but there wasn’t room to write it
Fermat’s Last Theorem
Pierre de Fermat (1601 – 1665)
€
an+bn=cn
If n is an integer greater than 2, there are no positive integers for a, b, and c that will satisfy this equation.
Proof?
Mathematicians worked on this unsuccessfully for 350 years!
In the 1980s and 1990s the British mathematician Andrew Wiles devoted much of his career to proving Fermat's Last Theorem.
Success?
• Wiles worked for more than 7 years to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem. His work built on the work of many other mathematicians.
•In 1993, he claimed to have solved the problem.
•Then other mathematicians found an error in his work.
•Wiles went back to work, and a year later published a proof which is now accepted by the mathematics community.
Math Project
Problem solving
Extended investigation
Log all work and thinking
Reflection
DirectionsThe purpose of this project is to give you an opportunity to investigate a problem at length. The purpose is not to solve the problem quickly; it is not even necessary to successfully solve the problem. You are to immerse yourself in the problem over the course of several days:
Live with it!
Get to know it intimately!
Own it!
Love it!
Directions
Choose a problem
Work 15 minutes a day for 5 days
Log your work: Write down everything you think or do
If you don’t solve it, that’s okay
If you solve it, extend the problem
Summarize the mathematics
Reflect on the process
Rubric
Log shows that student worked on problem for at least 15 minutes a day for 5 days.
Work is clearly shown; student explains thinking and attempts at solution.
Summary and work show some mathematical understanding.
Reflection discusses the experience of extended work on a problem.