It figures: math across the curriculum. (Curriculum update: the latest developments in math, science, language arts and social studies).

Get a mathematician together with a graphic artist and an art historian, and what happens? The Quantitative Reasoning Across the Disciplines project at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey did just that. While it took time to break down the language barriers of the various fields, the group produced one of five textbook supplements that integrate quantitative reasoning with another academic area. For example, teachers introducing the Greek Parthenon can combine it with the supplement's lesson on square roots.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, QUAD grew out of the college's quantitative reasoning program, which peppers non-math courses with mathematical ideas and their applications. The supplements are designed for use with introductory-level textbooks in visual arts, business, economics, history and psychology. While the materials were designed for first-year college students, project director Frank Cerreto says that "the same materials ... would easily port over into high schools." The project team has discussed the possibility of developing materials designed specifically for high schools, and other disciplines might be added, he says.

Sample pages from the supplements, as well as information on how quantitative reasoning links to the other academic areas, are posted on QUAD's Web site. Except for economics, the project teams have not yet found publishers, but Cerrato says he will forward requests for advanced copies to the authors. He can be reached at Frank. [e-mail]. * www.stockton.edu/~quad