MATH 3560 - History of Mathematics
MATH 3560: History of Mathematics (UNSW). Taught by Professor N. J. Wildberger, this course provides an overview of the history of mathematics, in 17 lectures; meant for a broad audience, not necessarily mathematics majors. Starting with Greek mathematics, Professor N. J. Wildberger discusses Hindu, Chinese and Arabic influences on algebra; the development of coordinate geometry, calculus and mechanics; the course of geometry from projective to non-Euclidean in the 19th century; complex numbers and algebra; differential geometry; and topology. This course roughly follows John Stillwell's book 'Mathematics and its History' (Springer, 3rd ed).
Lecture 08 - Projective Geometry |
Projective geometry began with the work of Pappus, but was developed primarily by Desargues, with an important contribution by Pascal. Projective geometry is the geometry of the straightedge, and it is the simplest and most fundamental geometry. We describe the important insights of the 19th century geometers that connected the subject to 3 dimensional space.
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