| If your interests include: | then consider taking: |
| cryptology |
Math 51 - Cryptology: The Mathematics of Secrecy
(not offered 2012-13).
The course will focus on the mathematical aspects of public-key
cryptography, the modern science of creating secret ciphers (codes), which
is largely based on number theory. Additional topics will be taken from
cryptanalysis (the science of breaking secret ciphers) and from
contributions that mathematics can make to data security and privacy.
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| 4-dimensional geometry |
Math 53 - Visualizing the Fourth Dimension
(Fall).
This course investigates the idea of higher dimensions and some of the
ways of understanding them. The classic novel, Flatland, will serve
as the starting point, and through discussions, writing, projects and
interactive computer graphics, we will extrapolate ideas from two and
three dimensions to their analogues in four dimensions and higher.
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| numbers |
Math 54 - Number Theory: From Clock Arithmetic to
Unbreakable Codes (Fall, Spring).
An introduction to the beauty and use of numbers. Topics will be chosen
from: divisibility tests, prime numbers, perfect numbers, unbreakable
computer codes, Fermat's theorem, the golden section, calendars, magic
squares, quadratic reciprocity, and others.
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| history of mathematics |
Math 55 - Ancient Greek Mathematics (not offered 2012-13).
Ancient Greek mathematicians invented the notion of abstraction (in
mathematics and other fields), absolute precision, and proof. The
approach to mathematics that we take today can be traced back to these
Greek mathematicians. After examining some pre-Greek mathematical
traditions, we study Greek mathematics, beginning with Thales and
Pythagoras. Topics include the intellectual crisis caused by the discovery
that not all magnitudes are commensurable; Plato and his academy; Euclid
and his Elements; the three special construction problems (trisecting an
angle, squaring a circle, doubling a cube); and the greatest of the Greek
mathematicians, Archimedes.
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| history of mathematics |
Math 56 - History of Mathematics (Spring).
Traces the development of mathematical ideas and methods in literate
cultures from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, to Hellenistic Greece and
medieval China, India and the Islamic world, up through the dawn of
calculus at the start of the Scientific Revolution in early modern Europe.
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philosophy, literature, linguistics, the humanities, psychology |
Math 57 - Game Theory and its Applications in the Humanities and
Social Sciences (not offered 2012-13).
Completely self-contained introduction to the mathematical theory of
conflict, including parlor games, auctions, games from the Bible and games
commenting on the existence of superior beings, game-theoretic analyses in
literature, philosophical questions and paradoxes arising from game theory,
and game theoretic models of international conflict.
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economics, management or
a course that will help prepare you for calculus |
Math 58 - Applications of Mathematics to Economics and
Management I (not offered 2012-13).
Directed graphs and Gauss-Jordan elimination. Matrices and linear
programming with applications of linear algebra to the social sciences.
Not open to students who have passed a college calculus course.
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| Math 59 - Applications of Mathematics to Economics and
Management II (not offered 2012-13).
Differential and integral calculus with applications in the social
sciences. Not open to students who have passed a college calculus course;
students who wish to continue the calculus should enroll in Math 112.
Prerequisite: Math 58.
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| political science |
Math 60 - Topics in Mathematical Political Science
(Winter).
(Same as Political Science 123)
A mathematical treatment (not involving calculus or statistics) of
political power, social choice, and international conflict. No previous
study of political science is necessary, but PS 111 or 112 would be
relevant.
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| public policy |
Math 61 - Math in the Public Interest
(not offered 2012-13).
Explores key mathematical topics including statistics, probability,
exponential and logarithmic functions, and visual/graphical representation
of numbers, in the context of contemporary public policy issues such as the
2008 financial crisis, gaming institutions, population demographics, and
climate change.
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| public policy |
Math 64 - Statistical Thinking
(Fall).
Seeks to provide the conceptual foundation and analytical skills required
to understand a complex, data-rich and uncertain (stochastic) world from a
stochastic versus deterministic perpective, and to navigate through the
daily bombardment of data from all sides.
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