Maths EE ideas library
Maths Extended Essay ideas: history of mathematics
How a method or idea developed, worked through in the original mathematics. A history EE in maths must still be mostly mathematics.
History of mathematics ideas (11)
- Archimedes' bounds for πHistory of mathsAccessible
- How logarithms were first calculatedHistory of mathsSolid
- Egyptian fractionsHistory of mathsAccessible
- Tangents before calculusHistory of mathsSolid
- Pi in ancient ChinaHistory of mathsSolid
- Completing the square, geometricallyHistory of mathsAccessible
- From Königsberg to graph theoryHistory of mathsAccessible
- Cantor and the sizes of infinityHistory of mathsSolid
- The problem of pointsHistory of mathsAccessible
- Newton's method then and nowHistory of mathsSolid
- The rabbits and beyond: Fibonacci's problemsHistory of mathsAccessible
Frequently asked questions
Is history of mathematics a good area for a maths EE?
It can be, if you narrow it to one question you can answer with mathematics you understand. Work through the historical method yourself, in modern notation, and compare it with today's method. Biography alone earns little.
Can I use one of these research questions as it is?
Use it as a starting point. Change the case, the comparison or the limit until the question is your own, and agree it with your supervisor.
Other areas: Number theory · Algebra · Analysis & calculus · Geometry · Probability · Statistics · Modelling · Graph theory · Codes & algorithms · Optimisation & games