Enrichment: The Use of Original Sources

The use of original historical texts, even in translation, often intrigues students and provides a means of enriching classroom lessons. The fact that they are reading mathematics and even solving mathematics problems that were compiled hundreds or thousands years ago attests to the continued importance of mathematics as well as supplying a source of fascination. The following newspaper article from the Bendigo Advertiser, Bendigo, Australia notes the success of Terry Mills of La Trobe University in employing this practice.

The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus is available in translation by Arnold Chace,Reston VA.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1967. (This is an abridgement of the 1927 edition.) .