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The author's statements are reasonable. I am surprised by your comment as well as the need to repost it. He's taking the time to remind us of the richness beyo
by endswapper 10y ago
The author's statements are reasonable. I am surprised by your comment as well as the need to repost it.
He's taking the time to remind us of the richness beyond the technical understanding of mathematics. I think this is a good reminder, in particular, for a technically proficient audience that may spend the majority of their time on technical matters.
Nowhere did he say that we should be historians or encyclopedias of/for mathematics.
At worst, his point stimulates an additional portion of our brains and may make mathematics more accessible to some.
The title might be hyperbolic, but it's effective.
- ColinWright 10y agoI am surprised at your surprise. All I'm saying is that for me, what the author proposes would have been strongly counter-productive. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. I'm sure some students would benefit, I'm sure others, equally, would not. I just wanted to be sure that the complementary point of view was expressed, especially since it affects me personally. The title might be hyperbolic, but it's effective. Actually, I disagree with the title. Mathematics has a life and soul of its own separately and independently of its history. The real problem is that in school one doesn't actually study mathematics anyway, one mostly does arithmetic and manipulation. Perhaps for many students the problem lies not in understanding the history, but in not doing mathematics to start with.