Mathematical Resources

Suggestions for additional links and reports of broken links may be directed to Dr. Chris Hill (chill@sbu.edu).

 

St. Bonaventure Resources

  • The "Resources for Mathematics Students" bookcase in De La Roche 301, which includes resources for job searches, resources on the art of problem solving, and resources for students continuing to graduate school.
  • The Walter J. O'Brien Mathematics Classroom, which is De La Roche 117, is equipped with Gateway laptop computers featuring Maple, Derive, Geometer's Sketchpad, and other mathematics software packages. Mathematics courses that involve substantial computing, like Differential Equations, are held here.
  • Friedsam Memorial Library 
  • MathSciNet (for on-campus users only; offered through Friedsam Library)
  • Computer Science Department

Professional Societies

Meta-Sites (Compendia of Mathematics-Related Web Sites)

Typing Mathematics: TeX

TeX (pronounced "tek") is the document-preparation program of choice among mathematicians, scientists, engineers, economists, and other scholars. In terms of mathematical typesetting, TeX sets the world's standard with its professional-quality output. The most popular version of TeX is LaTeX (pronounced "lah-tek" or "lay-tek"). Every version of TeX, including LaTeX, is freeware.

 

For more information about LaTeX, see our page on Typing Mathematics: Word, TeX, and PowerPoint.

Education (Primary and Secondary)

  • National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) 
  • Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics This outstanding book by Liping Ma describes the deep understanding of fundamental mathematics that all elementary teachers need. Ma finds that such profound understanding is more common among Chinese teachers than among U.S. teachers, despite the fact that Chinese teachers receive less formal training than their counterparts in the States. Ma's exceptionally well-written book is highly recommended for any person who teaches or plans to teach K-6 mathematics. The book may be purchased from Amazon.com or from the book's publisher, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • The Home of the Mathematically Correct A web site dedicated to rebuking the so-called New-New Math.
  • Glossary of Mathematical Mistakes A list of mathematical mistakes repeatedly made by advertisers, the media, reporters, politicians, activists, and others.
  • Investigating Patterns: Symmetry and Tessellations A vast collection of creative activities for middle school and high school students. Maintained by Jill Britton. See also the next site.
  • Investigating Patterns: Number Patterns, Fun with Curves & Topology A vast collection of creative activities for middle school and high school students. Maintained by Jill Britton.
  • Mind-Reading Trick This site appears to read your mind... How does it do it? (The trick is based on some elementary number theory.)
  • Interactive Games & Puzzles Each of these entertaining games and puzzles sharpens problem-solving skills and teaches a bit of mathematics. A Java-enabled browser is required to play along.

Particular Topics

Data

  •  New!  Bank Failures The economic woes of 2008 and 2009 may lead one to expect that the number of bank failures in these years were the highest since the Great Depression. This table, provided by the FDIC, of the numbers of bank failures by year since 1934 puts the situation into perspective. The numbers of bank failures during the S&L crisis of the '80s and '90s were much higher.
  • United States Census The Census Bureau provides the results from every U.S. census, from the first in 1790 to the most recent in 2000. The site also estimates the U.S. and world populations at the second you visit it.
  • United States Presidential Elections Maintained by the Federal Register, this site includes electoral and popular vote tallies for every presidential election, from the first in 1789 to the most recent.
  • World Records in Track and Field This Finnish site, with text in English, provides progressions of world records in all track and field events for men and women.
  • Internet Host Count The Internet Systems Consortium provides survey data for the number of Internet hosts from August 1981 through the present year. The number of hosts effectively measures the size of the Internet. Watch the number of hosts grow from 213 in 1981 to over 600 million in 2009.
  • U.S. National Debt Clock This site displays an estimate of the national debt at the second you visit it. Not for the faint of heart. Helpful information about the national debt is also provided. This site deduces its figures from the detailed data given by the Treasury Department's Bureau of the Public Debt.

Puzzles and Games

  • Mind-Reading Trick This site appears to read your mind... How does it do it? (The trick is based on some elementary number theory.)
  • Interactive Games & Puzzles
  • MazeWorks.com Java games and puzzles, including the Tower of Hanoi.
  • Ed Pegg Jr.'s Math Games A column written for MAA Online (the web site for the Mathematical Association of America). Ed is also the webmaster for MathPuzzle.com.
  • MathPuzzle.com An extraordinary collection of mathematical puzzles and links to more mathematical puzzles, maintained by Ed Pegg Jr.
  • Ken's Puzzle Links A list of web pages, compiled by Ken Duisenberg, that pose (mostly) mathematical problems for anyone to solve.

Math in Culture

Shopping

  • MathematiciansPictures.com An online gift shop for people who love math, offering high-quality t-shirts, posters, mugs, greeting cards and more, all with mathematical themes.
  • Cafepress.com Math tee-shirts, mugs, and more.
  • Zazzle.com Math tee-shirts, mugs, and more.
  • World of Escher The definitive source for posters, t-shirts, puzzles, calendars, and other items decorated with the art of M.C. Escher.

Publishers

Academic Press (part of Elsevier) Key Curriculum Press
  Addison-Wesley & Benjamin Cummings Marcel-Dekker
  American Mathematical Society Mathematical Association of America
  William K. Bradford Publishing Mathematics Online Bookshelf
  Brooks-Cole McGraw-Hill
  Cambridge University Press Oxford University Press
  CRC Press Prentice Hall
  Dover Princeton University Press
  Elsevier Springer-Verlag
  W.H. Freeman Thomson
  Harcourt Brace Wadsworth
  Holt, Rinehart, and Winston WGBH (Sells PBS videos, incl. NOVA)
  Houghton Mifflin Wiley
  Jones & Bartlett World Scientific