ISLAMIC TILINGS OF THE ALHAMBRA PALACE: TEACHING THE BEAUTY OF MATHEMATICS

Introduction How were the ancient Greeks able to measure the circumference of the earth? How did the Babylonians discover the Pythagorean Theorem two thousand years before Pythagoras? How were 13 Century Islamic mathematicians able to develop mathematical models that would call into dispute the longstanding theory on planetary motion laid down centuries earlier by Ptolemy? What geometry was needed by artisans in the Middle Ages to create the beautiful symmetric tilings of the Alhambra Palace (Figure 1) in Granada, Spain? These open questions are not easy to answer but they are precisely the type of questions that can spark dynamic discussions with students in mathematics classrooms