Mathematicians Are People, Too!
updated March 7, 2010

Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians

Pyramids, Olives, and Donkeys. Thales
Ratios & Proportions, Patterns

• demonstrate square-based pyramid with a light behind it, casting a shadow
• demonstrate salt dissolving in water
• demonstrate heaviness of sponge before and after being soaked in water
• follow with ratios & proportions work
• follow with mathematical sequences & number patterns work

The Teacher Who Paid His Student. Pythagoras
Triangles, Square Numbers, Geometric Solids

• demonstrate angles (right, acute, obtuse)
• demonstrate right angle triangle
• demonstrate square numbers with short bead chains
• demonstrate square numbers with graph paper
• demonstrate Pythagorean Theorem (or use lesson plans below)
  easiest to show with a=3, b=4, c=5
  show it again with a=5, b=12, c=13
  if students design their own, be prepared to get into decimals!
• follow with Geometric Sticks
• follow with Constructive Triangles
• follow with Short Bead Chains
• follow with Geometric Solids
• Pythagorean Theorem Lesson Plan - let students discover it for themselves!
• Do You Like Your Job? - an unusual WebQuest assignment based on the Pythagorean Theorem and real-life applications (used for assessment purposes)

The Man Who Concentrated Too Hard. Archimedes
Levers, Pulleys, Exponents, Pi, Volume of a Sphere, Buoyancy, Water Screw

• demonstrate and explore exponents with the Wooden Hierarchical Material
• demonstrate and explore pi, circumferance, and diameter with the Metal Fraction Circles
  see my blog post for this lesson
  make your own Fraction Circles
• demonstrate volume using Geometric Solids
• demonstrate and experiment with buoyancy (sink/float)
• demonstrate and experiment with water displacement
• demonstrate and experiment with levers and pulleys
• demonstrate and experiment with water screw
• follow with units of measuring capacity (metric and standard)

A Woman of Courage. Hypatia
Astrolable, Distilling Water

Magician or Mathematician? John Napier

Seeing Isn't Believing. Galileo Galilei

Count on Pascal. Blaise Pascal

The Short Giant. Isaac Newton

• Bet You Can't! Science Impossibilities to Fool You for experiments with gravity

The Blind Man Who Could See. Leonhard Euler

The Professor Who Did Not Know. Joseph Louis Lagrange

Mathematics at Midnight. Sophie Germain

The Teacher Who Learned a Lesson. Carl Friedrich Gauss

"Don't Let My Life Be Wasted!" Evariste Galois

Life on an Obstacle Course. Emmy Noether

Numbers Were His Greatest Treasure. Srinivasa Ramanujan

Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, Vol. 2

There's Only One Road. Euclid

A Fortune Shared. Omar Khayyam

Lean on the Blockhead. Leonard of Pisa (Fibonacci)

The Conceited Hypochondriac. Girolamo Cardano

The Stay-in-Bed Scholar. Rene Descartes

An Amateur Becomes a Prince. Pierre de Fermat

The Gift of Sympathy. Maria Agnesi

The Shy Sky Watcher. Benjamin Banneker

The Computer's Grandfather. Charles Babbage

The Mystery of X and Y. Mary Somerville

The Overlooked Genius. Neils Abel

Conducting the Computer Symphony. Ada Lovelace

The Lessons on the Wall. Sonya Kovalevsky

The Compass Points the Way. Albert Einstein

The Master Problem Solver. George Polya