The Math Myth

Author : Andrew Hacker
Publisher : New Press, The
ISBN 13 : 1620970694
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Math Myth written by Andrew Hacker and published by New Press, The. This book was released on 2010-05-25 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times–bestselling author looks at mathematics education in America—when it’s worthwhile, and when it’s not. Why do we inflict a full menu of mathematics—algebra, geometry, trigonometry, even calculus—on all young Americans, regardless of their interests or aptitudes? While Andrew Hacker has been a professor of mathematics himself, and extols the glories of the subject, he also questions some widely held assumptions in this thought-provoking and practical-minded book. Does advanced math really broaden our minds? Is mastery of azimuths and asymptotes needed for success in most jobs? Should the entire Common Core syllabus be required of every student? Hacker worries that our nation’s current frenzied emphasis on STEM is diverting attention from other pursuits and even subverting the spirit of the country. Here, he shows how mandating math for everyone prevents other talents from being developed and acts as an irrational barrier to graduation and careers. He proposes alternatives, including teaching facility with figures, quantitative reasoning, and understanding statistics. Expanding upon the author’s viral New York Times op-ed, The Math Myth is sure to spark a heated and needed national conversation—not just about mathematics but about the kind of people and society we want to be. “Hacker’s accessible arguments offer plenty to think about and should serve as a clarion call to students, parents, and educators who decry the one-size-fits-all approach to schooling.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Author : Andrew Hacker
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781620973912
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.1X/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Math Myth written by Andrew Hacker and published by . This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "lively" (Kirkus Reviews), provocative, much-talked-about book that challenges the mandate for all students to master a full menu of mathematics, from the bestselling author When Andrew Hacker published an op-ed in the New York Times questioning the requirement of advanced mathematics in schools, it instantly became one of the paper's most widely circulated articles. Why, he wondered, do we inflict algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and even calculus on all young Americans, regardless of their interests and aptitudes? In response to the controversy sparked by his ideas, Hacker fleshed out his arguments in The Math Myth, which Diane Ravitch has hailed as an "important book" that "demolishes some totally unrealistic policies that will prevent many students from ever receiving a high school diploma and leading useful lives." In a book Howard Gardner calls "important and timely--and a great read," Hacker offers a bold examination of widely held assumptions about the Common Core curriculum, the frenzied emphasis on STEM, and the type of knowledge that is--and will be--needed for most jobs. A mathematics professor himself, Hacker, in this "direct and clear" (Kirkus Reviews) "worthwhile read" (National Book Review), honors mathematics as a calling and extols its glories and its goals--yet shows how mandating it for everyone not only prevents other talents from being developed, but acts as an irrational barrier to graduation and fulfilling careers.

Author : John Mighton
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0802719252
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.56/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Myth of Ability written by John Mighton and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades teachers and parents have accepted the judgment that some students just aren't good at math. John Mighton-the founder of a revolutionary math program designed to help failing math students-feels that not only is this wrong, but that it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. A pioneering educator, Mighton realized several years ago that children were failing math because they had come to believe they were not good at it. Once students lost confidence in their math skills and fell behind, it was very difficult for them to catch up, particularly in the classroom. He knew this from experience, because he had once failed math himself. Using the premise that anyone can learn math and anyone can teach it, Mighton's unique teaching method isolates and describes concepts so clearly that students of all skill levels can understand them. Rather than fearing failure, students learn from and build on their own successes and gain the confidence and self-esteem they need to be inspired to learn. Mighton's methods, set forth in The Myth of Ability and implemented in hundreds of Canadian schools, have had astonishing results: Not only have they helped children overcome their fear of math, but the resulting confidence has led to improved reading and motor skills as well. The Myth of Ability will transform the way teachers and parents look at the teaching of mathematics and, by extension, the entire process of education.

Author : Julie Glass
Publisher : Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN 13 : 9780679986072
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.73/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Fly on the Ceiling written by Julie Glass and published by Random House Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description

Author : Reuben Hersh
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 9781400836116
Total Pages : 432 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Loving and Hating Mathematics written by Reuben Hersh and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-12-13 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mathematics is often thought of as the coldest expression of pure reason. But few subjects provoke hotter emotions--and inspire more love and hatred--than mathematics. And although math is frequently idealized as floating above the messiness of human life, its story is nothing if not human; often, it is all too human. Loving and Hating Mathematics is about the hidden human, emotional, and social forces that shape mathematics and affect the experiences of students and mathematicians. Written in a lively, accessible style, and filled with gripping stories and anecdotes, Loving and Hating Mathematics brings home the intense pleasures and pains of mathematical life. These stories challenge many myths, including the notions that mathematics is a solitary pursuit and a "young man's game," the belief that mathematicians are emotionally different from other people, and even the idea that to be a great mathematician it helps to be a little bit crazy. Reuben Hersh and Vera John-Steiner tell stories of lives in math from their very beginnings through old age, including accounts of teaching and mentoring, friendships and rivalries, love affairs and marriages, and the experiences of women and minorities in a field that has traditionally been unfriendly to both. Included here are also stories of people for whom mathematics has been an immense solace during times of crisis, war, and even imprisonment--as well as of those rare individuals driven to insanity and even murder by an obsession with math. This is a book for anyone who wants to understand why the most rational of human endeavors is at the same time one of the most emotional.

Author : Alberto A. Martinez
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780822962700
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.05/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Cult of Pythagoras written by Alberto A. Martinez and published by . This book was released on 2013-06-26 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Martínez discusses various popular myths from the history of mathematics. Some stories are partly true, others are entirely false, but all show the power of invention in history. Martínez inspects a wealth of primary sources, in several languages, over a span of many centuries. By exploring disagreements and ambiguities in the history of the elements of mathematics, The Cult of Pythagoras dispels myths that obscure the actual origins of mathematical concepts. Chosen as a major selection by Scientific American Book Club (Library of Science(R))

Author : Andreas M. Hinz
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3034802374
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Tower of Hanoi – Myths and Maths written by Andreas M. Hinz and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-01-31 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first comprehensive monograph on the mathematical theory of the solitaire game “The Tower of Hanoi” which was invented in the 19th century by the French number theorist Édouard Lucas. The book comprises a survey of the historical development from the game’s predecessors up to recent research in mathematics and applications in computer science and psychology. Apart from long-standing myths it contains a thorough, largely self-contained presentation of the essential mathematical facts with complete proofs, including also unpublished material. The main objects of research today are the so-called Hanoi graphs and the related Sierpiński graphs. Acknowledging the great popularity of the topic in computer science, algorithms and their correctness proofs form an essential part of the book. In view of the most important practical applications of the Tower of Hanoi and its variants, namely in physics, network theory, and cognitive (neuro)psychology, other related structures and puzzles like, e.g., the “Tower of London”, are addressed. Numerous captivating integer sequences arise along the way, but also many open questions impose themselves. Central among these is the famed Frame-Stewart conjecture. Despite many attempts to decide it and large-scale numerical experiments supporting its truth, it remains unsettled after more than 70 years and thus demonstrates the timeliness of the topic. Enriched with elaborate illustrations, connections to other puzzles and challenges for the reader in the form of (solved) exercises as well as problems for further exploration, this book is enjoyable reading for students, educators, game enthusiasts and researchers alike.

Author : Joseph Mazur
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1780749015
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.13/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Fluke written by Joseph Mazur and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-06-02 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What are the chances?! This exclamation greets the scarcely believable coincidence – you’re picked up by the same taxi driver several years and thousands of miles apart or, in a second-hand bookshop far from home, you find your own childhood copy of Winnie-the-Pooh on the shelf. But the unlikely is more probable than you think. Against every fibre of common sense, the fact is that it’s quite likely that some squirrel, somewhere, will be struck by lightning as it crosses the road. The chaos and unpredictability of our lives is an illusion. There is a rational order to the universe, and it’s called mathematics. Fluke is a fascinating investigation into the true nature of chance, a must-read for maths enthusiasts and avid storytellers alike, it tears down the veil of improbability to reveal the wonderfully possible.

Author : Ralph Kenna
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319394452
Total Pages : 228 pages
Book Rating : 4.59/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Maths Meets Myths: Quantitative Approaches to Ancient Narratives written by Ralph Kenna and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-22 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With an emphasis on exploring measurable aspects of ancient narratives, Maths Meets Myths sets out to investigate age-old material with new techniques. This book collects, for the first time, novel quantitative approaches to studying sources from the past, such as chronicles, epics, folktales, and myths. It contributes significantly to recent efforts in bringing together natural scientists and humanities scholars in investigations aimed at achieving greater understanding of our cultural inheritance. Accordingly, each contribution reports on a modern quantitative approach applicable to narrative sources from the past, or describes those which would be amenable to such treatment and why they are important. This volume is a unique state-of-the-art compendium on an emerging research field which also addresses anyone with interests in quantitative approaches to humanities.

Author : Nadia Maftouni
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781548405304
Total Pages : 156 pages
Book Rating : 4.02/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Math and Myth written by Nadia Maftouni and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-08-19 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Math and Myth" is a comprehensive work book for ESL courses included a variety of practices: pronunciation exercises, spelling exercises, as well writing practices.