When Will I Ever Use This?

A former student let me know about a post by DimSumThinking, titled When Will I Ever Use This. The post starts by referencing A Mathematician’s Lament, which was written by Paul Lockhart in 2002. Devlin’s Angle has some background and a link to a PDF of the original article.

Steinberg’s description of the practicality and beauty he sees in mathematics are quite nice. He acknowledges that math is “…so darned useful,” but he also loves to play with math because “To me math is a game. We have a set of rules and we take turns playing this game.” His description of the dual nature of math is a good one.

Honestly, it also pleases me that one of my former students shared it. If enough people read and share articles like this, perhaps we can make some change in how people of all ages perceive the beauty of math. 

Related Links

thinktanK12 blog: Math