Dee and his books: lessons from the history of mathematics for primary and middle school teachers

Abstract

This article describes a cross-curricular project based on Shakespeare's Tempest, in which the life and work of John Dee was used to inspire lessons in mathematics.

Notes

¹ For example, they were well aware of controversies involving Darwin's theory of Evolution, or various world models. They also mentioned the link between Alchemy and Chemistry without knowing that Dee himself was a practitioner.

² Some other books could well fulfil the various purposes of mathematics education, although we would not recommend the public showing of the film to anyone in a pre-university setting. The full list is: Book of water; Book of mirrors; Book of mythologies; A primer of the small stars; An atlas belonging to Orpheus; A harsh book of geometry; The book of colours; The Vesalius anatomy of birth; An alphabetical inventory of the dead; A book of travelers′ tales; The book of the earth; A book of architecture and other music; The ninety-two conceits of the Minotaur; The book of languages; End-plants; A book of love; A bestiary of past, present and future animals; The book of Utopias; The book of universal cosmography; Lore of ruins; The autobiographies of Pasiphae and Semiramis; A book of motion; The book of games; Thirty-six plays.

³  See Clulee (1988) and Clucas (2006); apart from oblique references to Dee's cryptanalytical skills, Pesic (1997) comes closest to actually describing some work of Dee in this regard.

⁴  Dee's discovery and further involvement with the Voynich manuscript, his role at Elizabeth's court, and his Monas hieroglyphica are all described in numerous biographies on Dee.

⁵  It is named after him but was first described by Giovan Battista Bellaso in La cifra del Sig Giovan Battista Bellaso, published in Venice in 1553.