Mathematics of Islam's Golden Age

 The descriptions of the methods used to calculate the circumference of the earth are fascinating, and it makes me wonder whether we could bring that into the classroom - it might make for a wonderful classroom exploration. Of course, we can't do the large-scale experiments, since we don't have time to travel the 56 miles they did to get their measurements, but we could at least study and reproduce their mathematical arguments.

 I hadn't realized that the Islamic mathematicians made so much progress in the theory of real numbers - proposing that irrational numbers should be thought of as real quantities in their own right, and obtaining an incredibly good approximation for pi. These are both ideas that are very relevant even at the grade 8 level (in my practicum I taught a bit about the distinction between exact and approximate values for pi) and teaching the history around them is a very good way to get students to contextualize these ideas.

I also thought it was interesting how many of these ancient mathematicians made significant advances in other fields that we don't necessarily associate with math. It seems that we don't have many true polymaths these days; our mathematical advancements tend to be made by people who have dedicated their entire lives to the field. But I think that having people who are talented in a wide variety of subjects, and can make connections between them is important, and we should promote our students to learn this way as much as we can.