Prof Jan van den Heuvel

Additional teachers: Prof June Barrow-Green and Prof Norman Biggs

This course is available on the BSc in Actuarial Science, BSc in Mathematics and Economics, BSc in Mathematics with Economics and BSc in Mathematics, Statistics and Business. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available with permission to General Course students.

Students must have completed Mathematical Methods (MA100).

General Course students may substitute an equivalent course.

This course surveys the development of mathematics from the beginning of history with an emphasis on its applications to finance and economics. Major themes are the development of arithmetic and geometry, the use of algebraic symbolism, the creation of the calculus, geometry, probability, and game theory. In order to give this course a distinctive flavour, we will illustrate these themes with examples taken from the social sciences, broadly interpreted. For example, the algorithms of arithmetic will be illustrated by their applications in finance, rather than astronomy.

This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 30 hours across Lent Term. This year, some or all of this teaching will be delivered through a combination of virtual classes and lectures delivered as online videos.

Students are expected to submit written work on a weekly basis. One of these assignments will be a short essay of 900-1100 words.

The course is based on source material which will be distributed to students as hard copy. J. Stedall’s ‘History of Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction’ (Oxford 2011) is recommended for background reading.

Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 5 minutes) in the summer exam period.
Essay (50%, 2000 words) in the ST Week 1.