DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS: THE USE OF NEWTON’S METHODUS FLUXIONUM ET SERIERUM INFINITARUM IN AN EDUCATION CONTEXT

Abstract

What is the possible use of history of mathematics for mathematics education? History of mathematics can play an important role in a didactical context, but a general theory of its use cannot be constructed. Rather a series of cases, in which the resort to history is useful to clarify mathematical concepts and procedures, can be shown. A significant example concerns differential calculus: Newton’s Methodus fluxionum et serierum infinitarum is a possible access-key to differential calculus. For, many concepts introduced by Newton ought be useful for the pupils/students (last or last but one year at the high school and first year at the university) to reach a more intuitive, geometrical and problem-oriented approach to calculus. The motivation to consider history of mathematics as an important didactical support is that the pupils/students often learn mathematics in a too formal manner, without understanding the real reasons for the introduction of several mathematical concepts. The problem is that the potential of such support is not exploited. The educational proposal is hence to show a concrete case to highlight what the teaching of mathematics based on history means. The conclusion is that a general theory, as differential calculus, should be considered by the pupils/students as a necessity, deriving from a specification, improvement and extension of the techniques used to solve significant problems posed and developed in the course of history. In this manner, mathematics appears as a human activity comparable with other activities and not as a merely formal exercise. Key words: mathematics education, history of mathematics, Newton, fluxions, tangents, maxima and minima, problem solving approach to mathematics education.