Jean Pedersen

Jean J. Pedersen (Sep 17, 1934–Jan 1, 2016)^[1]^[2] was an American mathematician and author particularly known for her works on the mathematics of paper folding.

Education and career

Pedersen was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, the daughter of an ophthalmologist and a teacher. She studied home economics changing to a double major in mathematics and physics as an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, before becoming a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Utah under the supervision of E. Allen Davis.^[2]

After completing her master's degree, she moved to San Jose, California, following her husband who worked for IBM. She joined the faculty at the Santa Clara University on a part-time basis in 1966, but shifted to full-time and was promoted to full professor in 1996. She was the first woman to teach mathematics at the university, and the first to be tenured as a mathematics professor.^[2]

Her discovery that the platonic solids could be braided from strips of paper led to Martin Gardner writing about it in the September, 1971 Mathematical Games column in Scientific American.^[3]

Books

Pedersen's books include:

Geometric Playthings (With Kent Pedersen, Dale Seymour Publications Secondary, 1973, ISBN 978-0866513517)
Fear No More: An Adult Approach to Mathematics (with Peter Hilton, Dale Seymour Publications, 1982 ISBN 978-0201057133)
Build Your Own Polyhedra (with Peter Hilton, Addison-Wesley, 1988)^[4]
Mathematical Reflections: In a Room with Many Windows (with Peter Hilton and Derek Holton, Springer, 1996)^[5]^[6]
Mathematical Vistas: From a Room with Many Windows (with Peter Hilton and Derek Holton, Springerl 2002)^[5]^[7]
99 Points of Intersection: Examples—Pictures—Proofs (by Hans Walser, translated with Peter Hilton, Mathematical Association of America, 2006)^[8]
A Mathematical Tapestry: Demonstrating the Beautiful Unity of Mathematics (with Peter Hilton, illustrated by Sylvie Donmoyer, Cambridge University Press, 2010)^[9]

She and Peter Hilton also translated The Golden Section and Symmetry by Hans Walser from German into English. Both translations were published by the Mathematical Association of America in 2001.^[10]

References

^ "Jean Pedersen (1934–2016)", News, Events & Announcements, American Mathematical Society, February 5, 2016
^ ^a ^b ^c "Jean Pedersen", Santa Clara Magazine, June 6, 2016, retrieved 2018-10-29
^ "Plaited Platonic Puzzles" by Jean J. Pedersen, The Two-Year College Mathematics Journal, vol. 4, no. 3, 1973, pp 22-37
^
Reviews of Build Your Own Polyhedra:
- Schmidt, Don (February 1989), The Mathematics Teacher, 82 (2): 145, JSTOR 27966155{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
- Leiva, Miriam A. (April 1989), The Arithmetic Teacher, 36 (8): 58–59, JSTOR 41193678{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
- Jacob, Wiliam (October 1994), The Mathematics Teacher, 87 (7): 572, JSTOR 27969009{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
- Provost, Mary D. (September–October 1995), Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 1 (6): 497–498, JSTOR 41181482{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
^ ^a ^b
Review of Mathematical Reflections and Mathematical Vistas:
- Leversha, Gerry (July 2003), The Mathematical Gazette, 87 (509): 376–379, doi:10.1017/S002555720017319X, JSTOR 3621090{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
^
Review of Mathematical Reflections:
- Anthony, Joby Milo (August–September 1998), The American Mathematical Monthly, 105 (7): 682–686, doi:10.2307/2589274, JSTOR 2589274{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
^
Reviews of Mathematical Vistas:
- Schaefer, Marvin (June 2002), "Review", MAA Reviews
- Cohen, Marion (May 2003), The American Mathematical Monthly, 110 (5): 455–458, doi:10.2307/3647846, JSTOR 3647846{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
^
Reviews of 99 Points of Intersection:
- Ashbacher, Charles (2004–2005), "Review", Journal of Recreational Mathematics, 33 (3): 215–216
- Poplicher, Mihaela (September 2006), "Review", MAA Reviews
- Coupland, Mary (2006), "Review", Australian Mathematics Teacher, 62 (3): 32
- Jensen, John (March 2007), The Mathematics Teacher, 100 (7): 511–512, JSTOR 27972312{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
- Leversha, Gerry (November 2008), The Mathematical Gazette, 92 (525): 588–589, doi:10.1017/S0025557200184074, JSTOR 27821873, S2CID 185487968{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
^
Reviews of A Mathematical Tapestry:
- The Mathematics Teacher, 106 (2): 157–158, September 2012, doi:10.5951/mathteacher.106.2.0157{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
- Bultheel, A. (2015), "Review", Bulletin of the Belgian Mathematical Society, 22 (5): 843–844
^
Review of The Golden Section and Symmetry:
- Winteridge, Bud (July 2003), The Mathematical Gazette, 87 (509): 386–387, doi:10.1017/S0025557200173279, JSTOR 3621098{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)