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Academics - Mathematics and Computer Science Faculty & Staff

Academics - Mathematics and Computer Science Faculty & Staff

Colin McKinney

Associate Professor of Mathematics & Computer Science

CONTACT:

Goodrich Hall 109
765-361-6314
mckinnec@wabash.edu
Curriculum vitae

Picture of McKinney, Colin

Dr. McKinney, known as “Dr. C” to his students, is an assistant professor in mathematics at Wabash. He came to Wabash in Summer 2011 after a visiting professorship at Bradley University and completion of his Ph.D. at the University of Iowa.

Dr. McKinney specializes in the history of mathematics, specifically ancient Greek mathematics. He is currently studying the works of Apollonius of Perga and Archimedes of Syracuse, and the commentaries of Eutocius of Ascalon. You’ll find him equally comfortable calculating partial derivatives in Goodrich, reading Greek in the Detchon Center, or using parabolic mirrors to start fires on the Mall…or, for that matter, calculating partial derivatives in the Detchon Center and reading Greek in Goodrich!

Raised mostly in Texas, Dr. McKinney has a penchant for southern foods and use of the pronoun “y’all.” His hobbies include cooking, wine, Scotch whiskey, travel, languages, electronic music, computers and computer gaming. He greatly looks forward to attending his first Monon Bell game: Μ?νον λαβ?!

 

EDUCATION

Philosophiae Doctor in Mathematics, University of Iowa, July 2010
M.S. Mathematics, University of Iowa, December 2006
B.S. Mathematical Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, May 2004
High School, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, May 2001

RECENT COURSE OFFERINGS

MAT 111: Calculus I
MAT 223: Elementary Linear Algebra
MAT 187: Readings in Ancient Greek Mathematics

RESEARCH

Translation of Eutocius’ commentary on Conics II-IV
Critical edition and apparatus critici of the diagrams in Eutocius’ commentary on Conics I-IV, from Vatican Codices Graece 191, 203, 204, Paris Codex Graece 2342, Frederic Commandinus’ Apollonii Pergaei Conicorum Libri Quattuor (1556), and J.L Heiberg’s Apollonii Pergaei quae graece exstant cum commentariis antiquis (1891)
Compound Ratios in Apollonius, Archimedes and Eutocius

Recent Research

Συζυγε?ς διαμ?τροι? ?πολλ?νιος ? Περγ?μου τ? κα? Ε?τ?κιος ? ?σκ?λονος (Conjugate Diameters: Apollonius of Perga and Eutocius of Ascalon), Ph.D. Dissertation
Translation of Eutocius’ commentary on Conics I

 

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

“Counting Cows, a Plague, and Indigestion: Classic Problems from the Classical Era.” Wabash College Mathematics Colloquium, 15 February 2011.

“Isaac Barrow’s Proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.” Joint Mathematics Meetings, New Orleans, Louisiana, 8 January 2011.

“?δελφ?α? Archytas' Kindred Subjects and Echoes in Plato and Eutocius.” Fall meeting of the History and Pedagogy of Mathematics (Americas section), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, 23 October 2010.

 

HONORS AND AWARDS

VIGRE Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation, Fall 2009
University of Iowa Graduate College Summer Research Fellowship, Summer 2009
University of Iowa Sandra H. Barkan Graduate Student Mentor Award, Spring 2008
University of Iowa Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Spring 2007

 

 

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