Janet Beery Ph.D.
Professor
Math & Computer Science
Education
- Ph.D., mathematics, Dartmouth College
- A.M., mathematics, Dartmouth College
- B.S., mathematics and English literature, University of Puget Sound
Professional Background
Janet Beery is a professor of mathematics at the University of Redlands, where she has taught since 1989, the same year she earned her Ph.D. in group theory from Dartmouth College. She has taught nearly every mathematics course offered at the university, including Mathematics Through Its History, a popular interdisciplinary course she created and co-teaches with two to six mathematics majors per offering.
Beery writes and speaks widely on the history of mathematics, with particular emphasis on the mathematics of Thomas Harriot (1560–1621). She is editor of Convergence, the Mathematical Association of America’s online journal devoted to the history of mathematics and its use in teaching. She also serves as secretary and membership chair for the Association for Women in Mathematics. From 2002 to 2008, she served on the College Board AP Calculus Examination Development Committee, and from 2006 to 2008 she served as College Board advisor for AP Calculus, developing instructional materials for AP Calculus teachers, among other responsibilities.
Academic Experience
- Teaching fellow (instructor), Dartmouth College, 1987–1989, 1985–1986
- Instructor, University of Puget Sound, 1986–1987
- Teaching fellow (teaching assistant), Dartmouth College, 1983–1985
Publications
Books
- Women in Mathematics: Celebrating the Centennial of the Mathematical Association of America, edited with S. Greenwald, J. Jensen-Vallin, and M. Mast. Springer, vol. 10 in the Association for Women in Mathematics series, 2017.
- Thomas Harriot’s Doctrine of Triangular Numbers: The “Magisteria Magna”, with J. Stedall. European Mathematical Society, 2009.
- “Lengths, Areas, and Volumes,” with C. Dolezal, A. Sauk, and L. Shuey. In Historical Modules for the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics (11-volume CD set). Mathematical Association of America, 2005.
- “Negative Numbers,” with G. Cochell, C. Dolezal, A. Sauk, and L. Shuey. In Historical Modules for the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics (11-volume CD set). Mathematical Association of America, 2005.
Articles
- “Who’s That Mathematician? Images from the Paul R. Halmos Photograph Collection,” with C. Mead. MAA Convergence, January 2012–March 2013 (weekly).
- “Thomas Harriot’s Pythagorean Triples: Could He List Them All?” Mathematical Time Capsules, Mathematical Association of America, 2011.
- “The Cannonball Curves of Thomas Harriot,” with L. Talman. National Curve Bank: A Math Archive, 2010.
- “Lulu Hofmann Bechtolsheim (1902–1989),” with B. Pflanz and M. Scherer. Biographies of Women Mathematicians, 2010. http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/bechtolsheim.htm
- “Formulating Figurate Numbers.” BSHM Bulletin: Journal of the British Society for the History of Mathematics, July 2009.
- “Sums of Powers of Positive Integers.” MAA Convergence, 2009. https://doi.org/10.4169/loci003284
Presentations
- “Navigating Between Triangular Numbers and Trigonometric Tables: How Thomas Harriot Developed His Interpolation Formulas.” Claremont Colleges History and Philosophy of Mathematics Seminar, March 2017.
- “Mathematical Puzzles and Games.” American Association of University Women 8th Grade Girls Mathematics and Science Day, University of Redlands, with E. Doolittle and D. Garcia, February 2017 (since 2000).
- “What’s Your Angle? Exploring the History of Your Department One Facet at a Time.” American Mathematical Society–Mathematical Association of America Joint Mathematics Meetings, Atlanta, January 2017.
- “Thomas Harriot and the Roanoke Colony, Gunpowder Plot, Sun, Moon, and Mathematics-in-Manuscript.” West Coast Meeting of the Americas Section of the International Study Group on Relations Between History and Pedagogy of Mathematics, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, October 2016.
- “The Mathematics of Thomas Harriot: Its 400-Year Publication History.” AMS–MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings, Seattle, January 2016.
- “Jackie Stedall and the Mathematics of Thomas Harriot.” MAA MathFest, held jointly with the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics and the British Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics, Washington, D.C., August 2015.
Affiliations
- Association for Women in Mathematics
- British Society for the History of Mathematics
- Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Mathematics
- Mathematical Association of America (special interest group: history of mathematics)