Math 103 - Topics in Math for the Liberal Arts (Spring 2019)

Instructor / Office hours

Dr. Iian Smythe (i.smythe@rutgers.edu) / Th 2:40pm-4:10pm in Meeting Room 1251 in the College Avenue Learning Center (first floor, Academic Building West), or by appointment

Lecture

TTh 1:10pm-2:30pm in 101 Scott Hall

Online resources

Our course makes extensive use of Sakai; all materials, homework, solutions, exam review, and announcements will be made available for students there. (This webpage is for information purposes only.)

Course description

This course is taken primarily by students majoring in the liberal arts and social sciences. The course investigates a variety of areas in which mathematics is concretely applied, in a way which is both engaging and accessible to students who do not necessarily have strong interests in the sciences. These topics include exponential growth in nature and finance, the mathematics of voting, the measurement of power, apportionment, fair division, and fair distribution.

See the course syllabus for more information regarding grade evaluation, homework standards, important dates, etc.

Textbook

• Topics in Mathematics for the Liberal Arts, Part 1, 2013, by Michael Weingart and Alice Seneres,
• Topics in Mathematics for the Liberal Arts, Part 2, 2013, by Michael Weingart.

The chapters of this book, written specifically for this course by two Rutgers faculty members, will be made available on Sakai at no cost to the student.