MATH 35General View of Mathematics

3 credits · Mathematics · Penn State

This course presents a general view of a number of mathematical topics to a non-technical audience, often relating the mathematical topics to a historical context, and providing students with an opportunity to engage with the mathematics at an introductory level. Although some variation in topics covered may take place among different instructors at different campuses, an example of such a course focuses on a number theory theme throughout the course, beginning with the Greeks' view of integers, the concept of divisors, the calculation of greatest common divisors (which originates with Euclid), the significance of the prime numbers, the infinitude of the set of prime numbers (also known to the ancient Greeks), work on perfect numbers (which continues to be a topic of research today), and the work of Pythagoras and his famous Theorem. The course then transitions to the work of European mathematicians such as Euler and Gauss, including work on sums of two squares (which generalizes the Pythagorean Theorem), and then considering Euler's phi function, congruences, and applications to cryptography.