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This is a course about discovering the true nature of mathematics and how some of the greatest ideas in mathematics are used in our modern-day world. The course emphasizes strategies of thought and analysis in examining topics ranging from prime numbers to infinity, the fourth dimension, chaos and fractals. The class is in seminar format - most class time will be spent in discussion and group activities. Students are important active participants in the teaching and learning process! An important component of the class is that it should be fun. The ideas discussed in the course are among the most beautiful and elegant of the ideas of humankind. Although Math 120 College Algebra is a stated prerequisite, the course does not require students to have mastered all the material of College Algebra. What it does require is an ability and commitment to think hard and logically about all kinds of interesting questions. We study some of the greatest ideas in mathematics that are often hidden from view in lower division courses. We aim to discover the innate beauty and power that mathematical thinking provides for exploring a variety of aspects of the world around us, and to emerge from the course with an understanding of what it is that mathematicians do. This class addresses the Scholarship and Knowledge, Intellectual Inquiry and Communication, and Community Building aspects of the Five Dimensions of the Saint Louis University Experience.

Chapter 1: Fun and Games: An Introduction to Rigorous Thought
Chapter 2: Number Contemplations (2.1 - 2.6)
Chapter 3: Infinity (3.1 - 3.3)
Chapter 4: Geometric Gems (4.1 - 4.5, 4.7)
Chapter 5: Contortions of Space
Chapter 6: Modeling Our World Through Graphs (6.1 - 6.3)
Chapter 7: Chaos and Fractals

Test 1: Friday, September 20
Test 2: Friday, October 18
Test 3: Monday, November 18
Final: Monday, December 16 at 2 p.m.