The Death of math
Galileo once wrote “Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.” It is said that over the door of Plato’s Academy were the words “Let no one ignorant of geometry enter.” Indeed, the word ‘Mathematics’ comes from Ancient Greek meaning ”that which is learnt.”
Few people love Mathematics more than I do. What music lovers get from listening to a Mozart concerto, and what poetry lovers get from reading a Shakespeare sonnet, I get from following through the steps of an Euler proof. In fact, the one book that I brought with me on my honeymoon six summers ago was William Dunham’s incredible, Euler: The Master of Us All
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.When I’m teaching somebody about math, I feel like I’m enlightening them to some of the hardest earned secrets of the Universe. I take great pride in getting to be the one who shares these truths. While some religious people bring signs to football games saying ‘John 3:16,’ I’m tempted to bring my own sign that says ‘Euclid 9:20′ in honor of the greatest proof of all time.
Education ‘reformers’ often say that the average American student is not good at Mathematics. And, for once, I agree. But my evidence for believing this is completely different from theirs,
