The Wording of a Proof: Hardy's Second "Elegant" Proof--The Pythagorean School's Irrationality of Square Root of 2

Autor/in	Padula, Janice
Titel	The Wording of a Proof: Hardy's Second "Elegant" Proof--The Pythagorean School's Irrationality of Square Root of 2
Quelle	In: Australian Mathematics Teacher, 62 (2006) 2, S.18-24 (7 Seiten) PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0045-0685
Schlagwörter	Mathematics Instruction; Mathematical Logic; Numbers; Mathematics Teachers; Mathematical Concepts; Student Reaction; Equations (Mathematics); History; High School Students; Algebra; Secondary School Mathematics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Mathematics lessons; Mathematikunterricht; Mathematical logics; Mathematische Logik; Zahlenraum; Mathematics; Teacher; Teachers; Mathematik; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Schülerkritik; Equations; Gleichungslehre; Geschichte; Geschichtsdarstellung; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin
Abstract	One of the most interesting and important proofs in the history of mathematics is the Pythagorean school's proof of the "irrationality" of the square root of 2. After a brief look at G. H. Hardy (1941) thoughts regarding it, two versions of the classic Pythagorean proof are examined and discussed in this article, one written by an American professor (King, 1992) and the other by an Australian mathematician, author and lecturer (Arianrhod, 2003). A 16-year-old student of Vietnamese/Chinese background is asked to prioritise the versions--which version is easiest to understand? (Contains 1 figure.) (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT). GPO Box 1729, Adelaide, South Australia 5001. Tel: +61 8 8363 0288; Fax: +61 8 8362 9288; e-mail: office@aamt.edu.au; Web site: http://www.aamt.edu.au.
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10