History

Ancient Geometry - Presenting an overview from ancient times to the present day, including descriptions of the discovery of pi and the origins of trigonometry.
http://members.aol.com/bbyars1/contents.html

Earliest Uses of Mathematical Symbols - Discusses first known appearances of common expressions, such as operations, variables and trigonometric functions.
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathsym.html

Babylonian Math - This site was created to help people understand the Babylonian math system better.
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/babylonianmath/

Pre-Computer History of Pi - Explains the early methods of approximating this famous constant, which is used in measuring the area of a circle. Page includes the dates and names of people who were influential in improving these calculations.
http://personal.bgsu.edu/~carother/pi/Pi2.html

Earliest Known Uses of Some of the Words of Mathematics - Shows who coined a wide variety of commonly used terms. Organized by first letter.
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/mathword.html

History of Mathematics in Africa - Explains the early development of mathematical concepts in astronomical calculations, number systems, calendars and climate studies.
http://www.saxakali.com/COLOR_ASP/historymaf.htm

The History of Mathematicians and Physicists - Outlines a Webquest for studying the history of contributions to both these fields, and includes resources for solving the task.
http://education.nmsu.edu/webquest/wq/math/mathpyswq.htm

Mathographies - Some biographical sketches of mathematicians, ancient and modern.
http://scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/Math/MathFolks.html

Counting to Infinity - Introduction to infinity including the origins of the sign for infinity and pictures.
http://www.scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/Math/infinity.html

History of Mathematics - An overview of the subject and a famous 1900 speech describing the main mathematical problems. Includes a chronological list of mathematicians and their work.
http://aleph0.clarku.edu/~djoyce/mathhist/

Mesopotamian Mathematics - Discusses the development of numbers, addition tables, exercise problems and solutions for quadratic equations in one of the oldest known civilizations. Covers the period from 8000 B.C. to 364 A.D.
http://it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/

The Mystery Of The Aleph - This article from the "Washington Post" covers the development of the concept of infinity, from the fifth to the second century B.C., and includes the main findings of Archimedes and the Pythagorean school. [Requires free registration.] <small>(November 16, 2000)</small>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/mysteryaleph.htm

Mathematics History - Traces the development of math throughout the ages. Also includes biographies of famous mathematicians.
http://library.thinkquest.org/22584/

Famous Problems in the History of Mathematics - Describes what mathematicians have worked on, from ancient times to the present. Includes problems suitable for middle school and high school math students, with links to solutions.
http://mathforum.org/isaac/mathhist.html

Maths is Good for You - Contains information on famous mathematicians, theorems, and topics.
http://www.mathsisgoodforyou.com/

Arabic Mathematics: Forgotten Brilliance? - Explains contributions of Arabian mathematicians by translating early Greek texts, developing early algebraic ideas, number theory and astronomical calculations. Includes information about key people during this time period.
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/HistTopics/Arabic_mathematics.html

History of Mathematics - Describes the earliest known uses of common words and symbols, as well as explaining some of the ambiguous terms that might be encountered at high school level.
http://members.aol.com/jeff570/

MacTutor History of Mathematics - An extensive and searchable archive covering famous people and concepts, as well as describing the development of mathematics in various cultures.
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/

Why Do We Study Calculus? - Explains, in everyday language, the developments in astronomy, math, and physics that contributed to the discovery of differential calculus and its relationship to area formulas.
http://math.vanderbilt.edu/~schectex/courses/whystudy.html

Math History Timeline - Pre-historic and Ancient Times - La Hababra high school page includes dates related to important developments in the field of mathematics, which occurred from approximately 30,000 B.C. to 500 A.D. Features an accompanying timeline for general historic events and photos.
http://lahabra.seniorhigh.net/pages/teachers/pages/math/timeline/MpreAndAncient.html

Egyptian Mathematical Papyri - Includes a description of each written document, as well as some sample problems from the Rhind, Moscow and other papyri. These ancient written works were created between 1900 and 1800 BC.
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/Ancient-Africa/mad_ancient_egyptpapyrus.html