Faculty Profile
David Richeson
(he/him/his)Professor of Mathematics; John J. & Ann Curley Chair in the Liberal Arts (2000)
Contact Information
Tome Scientific Building Room 244
717-245-1744
http://divisbyzero.com
Bio
He is interested in dynamical systems, topology, geometry, the history of mathematics, recreational mathematics, mathematics and the arts, and promoting expository mathematical writing. He is the author of two books, Tales of Impossibility: 2000-Year Quest to Solve the Mathematical Problems of Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2019) and Euler’s Gem: The Polyhedron Formula and the Birth of Topology (Princeton University Press, 2008). He was the editor of Math Horizons (2014–2019), the undergraduate magazine of the Mathematical Association of America, and he currently writes for Quanta Magazine.
Education
- B.A., Hamilton College, 1993
- M.S., Northwestern University, 1994
- Ph.D., 1998
2023-2024 Academic Year
Fall 2023
MATH 171 Multivariable Calculus
Multivariable calculus including parametric and polar equations, vectors, three-dimensional analytic geometry, vector-valued functions, functions of several variables, partial derivatives, and multiple integrals. Additional topics if time permits.Three hours of classroom and one and a half hour of lab per week. Prerequisite: 170 or departmental placement. Offered every semester.
Spring 2024
MATH 301 Tilings and Tesselations
Topics to be announced when offered.Prerequisite dependent upon topic. One-half or one course credit.
MATH 481 Topology
An elementary study of topological spaces. Topics include open and closed sets, the Hausdorff property, compactness, connectedness, continuity, homeomorphisms, product spaces, identification spaces, the Euler characteristic, the classification of spaces, and an introduction to the fundamental group. Prerequisite: 361 and completion of, or concurrent registration in 351. Offered in even numbered spring semesters.