Glen Van Brummelen, mathematics tutor, is a historian of mathematics, especially trigonometry and astronomy in ancient Greece and medieval Islam. He is past president of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics, and senior fellow at the Dibner Institute for History of Science at MIT. In addition to authoring 30 scholarly and 10 encyclopedia articles, he is co-editor of "Mathematics and the Historian's Craft" (Springer) and recently published the first history of trigonometry in over a century with Princeton University Press called "The Mathematics of the Heavens and the Earth: The Early History of Trigonometry".
Glen has taught mathematics at small liberal arts colleges his entire career. He has taught over 30 different courses, including most traditional topics in math but also mathematics and music, mathematics and democracy, mathematics and computer graphics, spherical trigonometry (using a 19th-century textbook), and how to be an ancient astronomer. Several of his students have published their undergraduate research with him in recent years. In the summer he teaches the history of math regularly at MathPath, a math camp for bright 7th- and 8th-graders.
As if this wasn't enough, he keeps busy with his three very active kids of his own: Ariel (13), Matthew (9) and Andrew (5), all of whom will be mathematicians some day, and wife Heide (age unspecified). He is an avid soccer player, and played goal on the college team at his two previous colleges. He is undefeated at chess in the past 20 years, with a record of 2-0. Glen notes that "the key is to choose one's opponents carefully".
To contact Glen, you can email him at or call him at 604.898.8000 or our toll free number in North America 1.888.QUEST.08 (1.888.783.7808).
Glen Van Brummelen, Quest's mathematics tutor, recently had his book published by Princeton University Press. The Mathematics of the Heavens and the Earth: The Early History of Trigonometry is the first major history in English of the origins and early development of trigonometry.
Glen Van Brummelen, Faculty member, Curriculum Coordinator Mathematics video [4.7 MB]
Glen talks about his passion for mathematics and why he joined Quest.
Quicktime - 2:05 min
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