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Re: Why study math?

I write to mention how much I enjoyed reading this diatribe of Richard's.
[I am always surprised that he does not title them this way]

This note seemed somehow less oppressive than some of Richard's other
submissions - perhaps the simpler quoting separator approach helped.

At 04:22 PM 3/26/2004, you wrote:

on 19 Mar 04 12:43:53-0500 (EST), Timotha Trigg wrote:

"Is it my imagination, or have bridge building activities enjoyed
almost as much of a boost in popularity as bar graphs in recent
years? Since not all that many students have bridge building in
their future, I find it curious that this has become such a popular
'real world' example. If students need real world examples,
WHY NOT SHOW THEM SOME PROBLEMS FROM SERIOUS
PHYSICS AND CALCULUS TEXTBOOKS
and show that algebra/trig knowledge is a useful prerequisite for
solving these problems? ... [My CAPS.]

An amusing example of what happens to an educatee turned educator,
with no stops betimes to smell the flowers?


///
Perhaps physicist Al Bartlett's aphorism:

"THE GREATEST SHORTCOMING OF THE HUMAN RACE IS
OUR INABILITY TO
UNDERSTAND THE EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION"

might jolt some students into an appreciation of math.



CONSIDER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF
THE U.S. COULD RAISE THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ON
MATH AND SCIENCE TO THE LEVELS OF WESTERN EUROPE WITHIN A DECADE.
According to Eric A. Hunushek . . .
U.S. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH WOULD THEN BE
4% HIGHER THAN OTHERWISE BY 2025 AND 10% HIGHER IN 30 YEARS." [My
CAPS.]

An immensely amusing swipe here, at Bottomlineism.

But the best reference shows up here:

Kline, M. 1977. "Why the Professor Can't Teach," St. Martins Press.
Kline writes: "The writing in mathematics text is not only laconic to
a fault; it is cold, monotonous, dry, dull, and even ungrammatical. .
. . The books are not only printed by machines; they are written by
machines."

Brian Whatcott Altus OK Eureka!