Mathematicians Are People, Too…

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  • August 31, 2009 at 4:44 pm
    Cindie2dds
    Member

    Mathematicians Are People, Too:  Stories From The Lives Of Great Mathematicians, by Luetta Reimer.  

    Have any of you read this book?  It looks like a great book for the history of mathematics.  Any thoughts?  Would you classify this in Literature or use it as part of your mathematics program?

    August 31, 2009 at 5:15 pm
    Mysterious Lady in Pink
    Participant

    Yes, we loved this book! There are two volumes, actually. Could you classify it as literary mathematics? lol  I think we used this when my oldest ones were in… 4th grade maybe? But I really think it could be enjoyed at a wide range of ages, including adults. We read one chapter a week, sometimes did a math activity inspired by the read, other times just appreciated it more from a historical perspective. I think at the time I categorized it as math — sort of the way you might read a brief bio for an artist or composer while studying their works.

     

    Hope that helps a little!

     

    September 1, 2009 at 7:04 am
    Jimmie
    Member

    We use it for math. It’s math, history, literature, science, AND geography. Living books are hard to pin down, aren’t they? 🙂 But I’d say it’s math history if I had to give it a strict label.

    We like it. I have both volumes. These past couple of weeks we’re working on Archimedes. So we go off on tangents like Pi and bouyancy, etc.

    Have you seen my Printables page? I’ve made notebooking pages for each mathematician. HTH

    September 1, 2009 at 1:19 pm
    Cindie2dds
    Member

    Jimmie ~

    Thank you so much for this link and your hard work!

    ~ Cindie

    September 1, 2009 at 5:05 pm
    HeidiS
    Participant

    Thanks ladies, I have both these volumes but have never used themEmbarassed You have inspired me to add them in this year!

    Heidi

    September 3, 2009 at 4:39 pm
    dellos5
    Member

    I just bought it this summer. I classify it as math – but we do only living math on fridays, a break from the ordinary.  We are planning to read one chapter per week.  I was flipping through it last week and it looks so interesting!  I have the book here, so I’ll list a few of the people: Thales, Pythagoras, Galileo, Newton, Emmy Noether, etc.

    Diana

    September 3, 2009 at 4:45 pm
    Cindie2dds
    Member

    Oh, sounds like fun.  How old do you all think the kids need to be to really enjoy these books? 

    September 3, 2009 at 4:58 pm
    dellos5
    Member

    without having actually used it, it’s hard for me to say.  I just read three paragraphs of one and I would say probably age 9 and older would really “get” it and make the connection to real life.  It also might depend on how much they like history.  I can tell my dd9 will think it’s boring, but hopefully she’ll still learn from it.

    For books like this, I usually read it aloud to all of them and let them draw, toss a small ball, or play play-dough while I’m reading.  This seems to keep my wild ds7 under control enough to still listen to the story. 

    hth,

    Diana

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