1. Math 210G Section 1 Mathematics Appreciation MWF 11:30 – 12:20 SH102 Dr. John Harding

2. General information Instructor: John Harding Contact: jharding@nmsu.edu, office SH247, 646-4315jharding@nmsu.edu Office Hours: Wednesday 10:30 – 11:20, Friday 12:30 – 1:20 Teaching Assistant: Eachan Landreth Contact: eachan@nmsu.edu, WH 37eachan@nmsu.edu Office Hours: Monday 2:30 – 4:00, Thursday 10:00 – 11:30 Website: www.math.nmsu.edu/~jharding/math210-2010www.math.nmsu.edu/~jharding/math210-2010 Note: All materials and lectures will be posted on this website. Textbook: None

3. Purpose Lets think of a familiar idea – art appreciation. You don’t have to be able to draw to appreciate art. You look at beautiful paintings, to see what is behind them, how they were made, how they were affected by, and effected the times they were made in. This makes it more fun to go to an old city, a museum, or a movie because you can see more of what is there. We try for a similar thing with math.

4. What we won’t do … Have you factor polynomials ( x 2 – 5x – 14 = 0 ). Repeat your earlier math courses. Do silly tasks nobody cares about as a pretense of learning about mathematics. Think of an art appreciation class — you can learn about art without drawing stick figures!

5. Topics We consider a number of topics. They are quite different in nature, so if you don’t like one, you may like the next. Among things we look at are Why people do math Effects on your everyday life (no, really!) New ways of thinking A highly technical application Abstract nonsense

6. Grading scheme 8 Quizzes 3 points each 2 Homeworks 6 points each 1 Group Project 9 points Quizzes are unannounced, and will be held periodically through the semester. A 35 or more of the 45 possible points B 29 – 34 C 23 – 28 D 19 – 22 F under 19

7. Absences This is a large class, and it is natural for someone to become sick at some point in the semester. The homeworks and project have long periods before they are due, and will be accepted one class after the due date, so minor illnesses should not affect these. If you miss one quiz, there will be a “no questions asked” makeup quiz at the end of the year. For any other circumstances, valid university approved excuses must be presented.

8. Things to do for next class Go to www.math.nmsu.edu/~jharding/math210-2010www.math.nmsu.edu/~jharding/math210-2010 On this website you will get the outline for the course. Class notes will also be placed here. Check you are enrolled in the course through Blackboard you do this at www.nmsu.edu. You can check grades here.www.nmsu.edu