Abstract / Synopsis
Students of traditional calculus courses can discover significant mathematics original to themselves, especially if these courses are taught in a way that allows shafts of mathematical light to shine through. We tell a story of such an incident in the form of a dialogue between two fictional students. Our students, on their own, discover (or rediscover) a well-known problem based on the harmonic series. We believe opportunities for such discoveries are greater if students have had some experience with inquiry-based learning prior to entering a traditional course. More broadly, we aim to demonstrate what can occur when students feel no inhibition exploring and even creating mathematics on their own.
DOI
10.5642/jhummath.201302.11
Rights Information
© Charles Coppin
Recommended Citation
Charles Coppin, "Harmonics in the Library," Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, Volume 3 Issue 2 (July 2013), pages 131-143. DOI: 10.5642/jhummath.201302.11. Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/jhm/vol3/iss2/11
Terms of Use & License Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
