On Gauss and Gaussian Legends: A Quiz

Abstract

For the last few years, students in my history of mathematics course have been required to do a bit of research on the web. Each of them chooses from a list of specially chosen questions designed to make them ponder whether the information they find on standard internet sites is solidly grounded and clearly sourced, or whether subsequent research (pursued in such unlikely places as the local university library) might lead a person to doubt what one reads online. The idea here is not to push for a definitive answer; in many cases, this would be a hopeless undertaking anyway. Instead, I ask students merely to report on what they found and how they went about tracking down the information cited in their short reports. It’s all about learning to read sources critically. Here I offer a taste of what my students have to put up with, a set of challenge questions to test the mettle of those Intelligencer readers who might care to chase after some trivia.