![]() ![]() ![]() Starting can be intellectually thrilling, and there are quite a few old classics written in just the right style to accompany you as you begin to take your first steps in mathematics. But also here is a message to any older person who has never given a thought to mathematics or science during their school days or afterwards: You may be ready to start. Early education deserves our efforts and ingenuity. A person’s first steps in his or her mathematical development are exceedingly important. This raises a hard question: How–if at all– can this living world of mathematics become accessible?īARRY MAZUR: I can’t answer that question, but I can offer some comments. The disconnection between the inner, lived world of mathematicians and the mainstream of intelligent people is very deep, despite the sensual character of mathematics that you describe so well in your recent book, Imagining Numbers: (particuarly the square root of minus fifteen). ![]() Doubtless this is partly due to the way it is taught, but such teaching is widespread, the product of good intentions and much effort. PETER PESIC: Many intelligent people only see in mathematics a wasteland of dreary formalism, a mind-numbing expanse of theorems and proofs expressed in very abstract language. ![]()
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