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American mathematician
Jean J. Pedersen
Jean J. Pedersen (Sep 17, 1934–Jan 1, 2016)
[1]
[2] was an American mathematician and author particularly known for her works on the
mathematics of paper folding .
Education and career
Pedersen was born in
Salt Lake City, Utah , the daughter of an ophthalmologist and a teacher. She studied
home economics changing to a double major in
mathematics and
physics as an undergraduate at
Brigham Young University , before becoming a graduate student in mathematics at the
University of Utah under the supervision of E. Allen Davis.
[2]
After completing her
master's degree , she moved to
San Jose, California , following her husband who worked for
IBM . She joined the faculty at the
Santa Clara University on a part-time basis in 1966, but shifted to full-time and was promoted to full professor in 1996. She was the first woman to teach mathematics at the university, and the first to be tenured as a mathematics professor.
[2]
Her discovery that the
platonic solids could be braided from strips of paper led to
Martin Gardner writing about it in the September, 1971
Mathematical Games column in
Scientific American .
[3]
Books
Pedersen's books include:
Geometric Playthings (With Kent Pedersen, Dale Seymour Publications Secondary, 1973,
ISBN
978-0866513517 )
Fear No More: An Adult Approach to Mathematics (with
Peter Hilton , Dale Seymour Publications, 1982
ISBN
978-0201057133 )
Build Your Own Polyhedra (with
Peter Hilton , Addison-Wesley, 1988)
[4]
Mathematical Reflections: In a Room with Many Windows (with
Peter Hilton and Derek Holton, Springer, 1996)
[5]
[6]
Mathematical Vistas: From a Room with Many Windows (with
Peter Hilton and Derek Holton, Springerl 2002)
[5]
[7]
99 Points of Intersection: Examples—Pictures—Proofs (by Hans Walser, translated with Peter Hilton, Mathematical Association of America, 2006)
[8]
A Mathematical Tapestry: Demonstrating the Beautiful Unity of Mathematics (with
Peter Hilton , illustrated by Sylvie Donmoyer, Cambridge University Press, 2010)
[9]
She and
Peter Hilton also translated The Golden Section and Symmetry by Hans Walser from German into English. Both translations were published by the
Mathematical Association of America in 2001.
[10]
References
^
"Jean Pedersen (1934–2016)" , News, Events & Announcements ,
American Mathematical Society , February 5, 2016
^
a
b
c
"Jean Pedersen" , Santa Clara Magazine , June 6, 2016, retrieved 2018-10-29
^ "
Plaited Platonic Puzzles " by Jean J. Pedersen,
The
Two-Year College Mathematics Journal , vol. 4, no. 3, 1973, pp 22-37
^ Reviews of Build Your Own Polyhedra :
Schmidt, Don (February 1989), The Mathematics Teacher , 82 (2): 145,
JSTOR
27966155 {{
citation }}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (
link )
Leiva, Miriam A. (April 1989), The Arithmetic Teacher , 36 (8): 58–59,
JSTOR
41193678 {{
citation }}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (
link )
Jacob, Wiliam (October 1994), The Mathematics Teacher , 87 (7): 572,
JSTOR
27969009 {{
citation }}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (
link )
Provost, Mary D. (September–October 1995), Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School , 1 (6): 497–498,
JSTOR
41181482 {{
citation }}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (
link )
^
a
b Review of Mathematical Reflections and Mathematical Vistas :
^ Review of Mathematical Reflections :
^ Reviews of Mathematical Vistas :
^ Reviews of 99 Points of Intersection :
Ashbacher, Charles (2004–2005),
"Review" , Journal of Recreational Mathematics , 33 (3): 215–216
Poplicher, Mihaela (September 2006),
"Review" , MAA Reviews
Coupland, Mary (2006),
"Review" , Australian Mathematics Teacher , 62 (3): 32
Jensen, John (March 2007), The Mathematics Teacher , 100 (7): 511–512,
JSTOR
27972312 {{
citation }}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (
link )
Leversha, Gerry (November 2008), The Mathematical Gazette , 92 (525): 588–589,
doi :
10.1017/S0025557200184074 ,
JSTOR
27821873 ,
S2CID
185487968 {{
citation }}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (
link )
^ Reviews of A Mathematical Tapestry :
^ Review of The Golden Section and Symmetry :
International National Other