Leonhard Euler’s Correspondence Schedule

In addition to his large number of published articles and books, Leonhard Euler engaged in a prolific correspondence with scientists, mathematicians, and administrators throughout his career. By compiling the dates of all of his known letters, as described in the Opera Omnia, we can get some understanding of Euler’s weekly schedule. We report here for the first time Euler’s preference, particularly during his Berlin Period, of writing letters on Tuesdays and Saturdays

How to Calculate π: Machin\u27s Inverse Tangents, A Mini-Primary Source Project for Calculus II Students

Almost every mathematical culture through history seems to have proved, trusted, or suspected that the area of a circle is a fixed constant times the square of its radius. It is maybe not surprising, then, that the last two millennia have seen a seemingly endless array of attempts to calculate this constant (today usually called π role= presentation \u3eπ) with increasing precision

Media Exposure on Student Work: Spotlight on Undergraduate Research

This paper describes efforts by the author to engage and motivate students in undergraduate research by giving them a large audience and engaging the media in disseminating their work. I provide an introduction to public relations from the point of view of a mathematics professor, and describe some lessons I’ve learned in my own attempts to engage newsprint, radio, and television sources in stories about undergraduate research in mathematics. After describing some partially successful early attempts, the paper discusses a recent event in which undergraduate research in mathematics became, briefly, a “hot news item” in Central Washington. The paper concludes with some thoughts about the benefits of this type of work to our students and our profession