CHAPTER 2: History in Mathematics Education—Why Bother?: Interdisciplinarity, Mathematical Competence and the Learning of Mathematics

History in mathematics education—why should we bother? It is difficult and it takes time away from the teaching of core curriculum mathematics. It might be a motivating factor and it might provide students with an understanding of mathematics as a cultural and historical product of human intellectual activities; but do the students learn any relevant mathematic? These are concerns and questions raised by mathematics teachers when the role of history in mathematics education is discussed.¹ Among the different arguments for mathematics in general education, the cultural argument is the one that stresses the significance of history. According to this argument, mathematics has a place in general education because it is a cultural and historical product of human intellectual activities; its thoughts and development are tied to philosophy, art, and the development of science throughout history; and mathematics plays a role in our understanding of the world.² But there seems to be a dilemma in mathematics education between mathematics contributing to general educational goals by introducing history on the one hand and the teaching and learning of mathematics on the other hand. In mathematics teaching, the cultural argument has been overshadowed by the obvious importance of mathematics in the development of modern technology, often to an extent where it is nonexistent. In traditionally oriented textbooks, mathematics is often presented in a decontextualized and ahistorical form, which is narrowly defined by a curriculum of concepts and methods. By integrating history, the cultural argument for mathematics education can be emphasized.