Commission Internationale de l’Enseignement Mathématique. The International Commission on Mathematical Instruction

Abstract

ICMI Study 10 is entitled “The role of the history of mathematics in the teaching and learning of mathematics”. The discussion document [4] initially appeared in 1997; the Study Conference took place at CIRM, the country retreat of the French Mathematical Society at Luminy (near Marseille, France) from 20 to 25 April 1998. The volume resulting from the Study and edited by the two co-chairs [9] was presented at ICME 9 in Japan (2000). The argument of this ICMI Study is far more wide-ranging than discussing the opportunity of teaching some elements of the history of mathematics in the mathematics courses of the various school levels and at university : it concerns the goals of mathematics teaching and the way to reach them through history. As the editors of the Study volume put it (p. xvii), the ICMI Study “is posited on the experience of many mathematics teachers across the world that its history makes a difference : that having the history of mathematics as a resource for the teacher is beneficial. School mathematics reflects the wider aspect of mathematics as a cultural activity.”