> My pet theory is that mathematics is largely taught by people who enjoy math In most of america, until 5th grade, one teacher teaches everything. In some st

> My pet theory is that mathematics is largely taught by people who enjoy math In most of america, until 5th grade, one teacher teaches everything. In some states, in 4th grade and 5th grade, you do get some segments of specialization in course load, but even then you still have mostly one teacher. A lot of applied math courses are also taught by people that despise math and just teach that course because it was given to them and they would much rather teach a course in their main discipline. Somewhat related but very different from the point you raised, a lot of people that enjoy math, especially research, HATE teaching math. I'd actually even venture it is the majority... People like John Conway were rare. RIP. I miss seeing him around Fine Hall. And now I think of Nash :(