The Shoemaker's Knife—an Approach of the Polya Type

Geometry forms a major portion of ancient mathematical history and thus supplies teachers and students with a vast array of interesting problems. In an undergraduate course on the history of mathematics at the University of Montana, Archimedes's “shoemaker's knife” problem was not only int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Mathematics teacher 1984-03, Vol.77 (3), p.178-236
Main Authors: LIBESKIND, SHLOMO, LOTT, JOHNNY W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Circles
Geometric centers
Heuristics
Mathematical problems
Mathematics education
Perpendicular lines
Property lines
Semicircles
Tangents
Triangles
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Summary:Geometry forms a major portion of ancient mathematical history and thus supplies teachers and students with a vast array of interesting problems. In an undergraduate course on the history of mathematics at the University of Montana, Archimedes's “shoemaker's knife” problem was not only interesting in its own right but also let the authors demonstrate heuristic teaching ideas and illustrate a different method of doing a routine construction.
ISSN:0025-5769
2330-0582
DOI:10.5951/MT.77.3.0178