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Prof. Paulus Gerdes (11 November 1952 in Netherlands - 11 November 2014 South Africa) was a pioneer in the fields of Ethnomathematics and of Historiography of Mathematics in African cultures. He is well known internationally for his path-breaking contributions in these fields. Prof. Gerdes was one of the founding members of Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA) who was always a plenary/guest speaker at SAMSA conferences.

He received his doctorates in mathematics, the history of mathematics, and mathematics education from the Universities of Dresden and Wuppertal (Germany). He has been a professor of mathematics at the Eduardo Mondlane University, and the Universidade Pedagógica in Mozambique for many years, serving as president from 1989-1996. He was a visiting professor at the University of Georgia from 1996 to 1998. He has served the African Mathematical Union as chair of the Commission on the History of Mathematics in Africa since 1986, and was the secretary of the Southern African Mathematical Sciences Association 1991-1995. Among his books published in English are: Women, Art and Geometry in Southern Africa; Lusona: Geometrical Recreations of Africa; Lunda Geometry—Designs, Polynominoes, Patterns, Symmetries; Ethnomathematics and Education in Africa; African Pythatgoras: A Study in Culture and Mathematics Education; and Culture and The Awakening of Geometrical Thinking (with a preface by Dirk Struik).

Professor Gerdes lectured in many countries and supervised PhD students of several nationalities.

From 2000 to 2004 he was President of the International Association for Science and Cultural Diversity. In 2000 Professor Gerdes succeeded the Brasilian Ubiratan D’Ambrosio as President of the International Group of Ethno-mathematical Studies. He was member of the International Academy for the History of Science and was elected Vice President of the African Academy of Sciences in 2005. From 2006 he was President of the Founding Commission of the third public university in Mozambique, the Lúrio University in Nampula. Professor Gerdes published over sixty books and over a hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Book: Geometry from Africa: Mathematical and Educational Explorations

The book presents traditional handcrafts from Africa south of the Sahara as part of a vibrant cultural mosaic, extremely rich in its diversity. Among subsaharan africans' interest in creating and exploring forms and shapes has blossomed in diverse cultural and social contexts with such an intensity that with reason it may be said that “Africa Geometrizes.” Gerdes presents examples of geometrical ideas in the work of wood and ivory carvers, potters, painters, weavers, and mat and basket makers. He analyzes geometrical ideas inherent in various crafts and explores possibilities for their educational use. Using as examples African ornaments and artifacts from Senegal to Madagascar, he shows how students may be led to discover the Pythagorean Theorem and to find proofs of it. He also explores connections to Pappus’ Theorem, similar right triangles, and Latin and magic squares as well as the geometrical ideas inherent in mat and basket weaving, house building, and wall decoration.

The author presents the geometry of a sand drawing tradition—called sona in the Chokwe language (predominately northeast Angola). Through the knowledge of sona, passed from generation to generation via beautiful, often symmetric, designs made in the sand, Gerdes uncovers mathematical ideas and presents examples of how they may be used in teaching mathematics. He underscores the mathematical potential of the sand drawing tradition by developing the geometry of a new type of design/pattern, which he calls Lunda-designs.

Books published in English

Geometry from Africa : Mathematical and Educational Explorations, Published 1999 by The Mathematical Association of America; Washington DC, 1999, xii + 210 pp. [Foreword by Arthur B. Powell] ISBN 0-88385-715-4

Women, Art and Geometry in Southern Africa (Africa World Press, Trenton NJ, USA) (11-D Princess Road, Lawrenceville N.J. 08648, tel. 609-844-9583, fax:609-844-0198, e-mail:awprsp@africanworld.com);

Lusona: Geometrical Recreations of Africa (L'Harmattan, Paris / Montreal);

Lunda Geometry-- Designs, Polyominoes, Patterns, Symmetries (Universidade Pedagogica, Maputo);

Ethnomathematics and Education in Africa (IIE, University of Stockholm);

SIPATSI: TECHNOLOGY, ART AND GEOMETRY IN INHAMBANE (co-author Gildo Bulafo, Universidade Pedago'gica, Maputo);

AFRICAN PYTHAGORAS: A STUDY IN CULTURE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (Universidade Pedago'gica, Maputo);

SONA GEOMETRY: REFLECTIONS ON THE SAND DRAWING TRADITION IN AFRICA SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR (Universidade Pedago'gica, Maputo).

Forthcoming is the translation:

Culture and the Awakening of Geometrical Thinking (with a preface by Dirk Struik) [MEP-Press, Minneapolis MN].

Books and articles (in English): New designs from Africa, Plus Magazine, Cambridge University (March 2002) (original title: Attractive Liki-designs) http://plus.maths.org/issue19/features/liki/index.html

From Liki-designs to cycle matrices: The discovery of attractive new symmetries, Visual Mathematics, Vol. 4, No. 1 (March 2002) http://members.tripod.com/vismath7/gerd/

m-Canonic mirror curves, Visual Mathematics, Vol. 4, No. 1 (March 2002) http://members.tripod.com/vismath7/gerd1/