Chapter 10: English and American Revolutions "Sir Christopher Wren"

Introduction
Students have read about Christopher Wren, who is best known as the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral, a London landmark. They also learned that Wren was a noted mathematician and astronomer at Oxford University.

Lesson Description
Students will go to the Sir Christopher Wren Web site. They will then answer four questions about what they have read. Students are then asked to write a thank-you note to a great thinker.

Instructional Objectives
1. Students will learn more about Christopher Wren's life.
2. Students will learn about Christopher Wren's contributions to mathematics and optics.

Student Web Activity Answers
1. He was known for his architectural design but was also a very famous mathematician. Newton ranked him as a leading geometer of the day.
2. He published a description of a machine to create perspective drawings and discussed grinding lenses and mirrors.
3. The text mentions that D'Arcy Thompson examined similar ideas 250 years later.
4. Students' answers will vary. Some may feel that his buildings are obvious and permanent memorials to his talents while his mathematical and other thinking has long been surpassed by other thinkers. Others may feel that Wren's contributions in mathematics and optics, while less concrete, did lay the foundations on which others could build.

GO TO STUDENT ACTIVITY