
Linda Kilgariff
From the
College of Arts and Sciences News Letter
Spring 2009
Contributed by Dr. Jerry Vaughan
The following is from the College of Arts and Sciences FRESHMEN SEMINARS PROGRAM SPRING SEMESTER 2005
Freshman Seminar 195-01 T, R 2:00-3:15pm, location: TBA. "Excursions in Mathematics." Instructor: Linda Kilgariff. Department of Mathematical Sciences.
"To most outsiders, modern mathematics is unknown territory. Its borders are protected by dense thickets of technical terms; its landscapes are a mass of indecipherable equations and incomprehensible concepts. Few realize that the world of modern mathematics is rich with vivid images and provocative ideas." Ivars Peterson, The Mathematical Tourist
Mathematics does not have to be dull and unrelated to our real world experiences. This course consists of brief excursions through selected unconventional topics from ancient through contemporary liberal arts mathematics. Along the way in this interdisciplinary mathematical adventure, the class will encounter fallacies and fuzzy sets; perfect, deficient, and abundant numbers; the double-dabble method; cryptology; wallpaper groups; the Greedy algorithm, …
Linda Kilgariff is an Instructor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, where she has taught calculus and various other mathematics courses for over 30 years. She mentors mathematics Teaching Fellows and high school Fast Forward teachers and loves beach music, murder mysteries, and infinite shopping.