Instructor: Ward Henson
Office: 310 Altgeld Hall (333-2768)
Email: henson (at) math (dot) uiuc (dot) edu (Email gets checked
frequently. Responses to queries of general interest will be sent
to the entire class.)
WWW: http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~henson/Math347/Fall2008/
(Bookmark this address; further course information will be posted
there.)
Office hours: Mon at 2:00, Wed at 12noon, and Thurs at
3:00, and by appointment
(arrangements are best made at class or by email).
Required text: Mathematical
Thinking, Problem-solving and Proofs (second edition) by
D'Angelo
and West; Prentice-Hall, 2000.
To be covered: Chapters 1-7
and 13-15.
Errata: Several pages
of errata for the textbook may be found at the web site of Prof. West;
on his home page
(http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~west/) click on the title of the book, then
look for the link to errata for the second edition. Some of the
other resources listed there might be of interest, too.
Honors section: This is an
honors section; enrollment requires A's in previous math courses.
Honors Sequence:
Success in an honors section of Math 347 is required for
admission
to the Honors
Sequence in the Department of Mathematics. For more details, see
the Math. Dept. home page at http://www.math.uiuc.edu or go directly to
http://www.math.uiuc.edu/UndergraduateProgram/curricula/honors_sequence.html
Purpose of Math 347: This course provides an introduction to rigorous mathematics. It is intended to improve students' ability to understand and communicate mathematics via practice in problem solving and in reading and writing mathematical arguments. This is meant to prepare for upper level courses and to help with the transition from computational and problem-oriented courses (such as basic calculus, differential equations, etc.) to abstract mathematics. In this course students will learn how to read and write proofs and to apply abstract methods to solve concrete problems.
Reading assignments and homework: there will be regular
reading assignments as well as weekly sets of homework problems. To
understand most lectures it will be necessary to have done some reading
in advance. Written solutions to certain assigned problems will
be
handed in and graded. No points will be given for this work; the
purpose of the grading is to identify deficiencies (or their
absence!).
Grades in this class depend primarily on exam performance; it is obvious (but worth pointing out) that exam results normally depend on how well the reading and homework assignments have been carried out. Points will be not be given for solutions of any exam problem unless a clear and complete justification of the answer is included.
Exams: (A) Four in-class Exams will be held during
regular class periods on September 17 (50 points), October 1 (100
points), October 22 (50 points), and November 19 (100 points). (B) The
Final
Exam (200 points) will take place during 8-11 am on December 18;
it will cover the entire semester's work.
Grading: Course grades depend primarily on exam scores. The total number of points available for the semester is 500 points. In-class Exams during the semester = 300 points (see above); Final Exam = 200 points.
Late work: No late work is accepted; makeup exams are not possible. Excuses based on documented and solid reasons (illness, family difficulties, university athletic trips, job interviews, etc) are possible; in such cases grades will be based (proportionately) on the remaining work. Such excuses should be discussed with Prof. Henson at the earliest possible time.
Prerequisites: Math 231 (second semester calculus). To enroll in this honors section, A's in previous math courses are required.
(Revised August 27, 2008)