Where would you suggest adults start to "learn something about the true masterpieces of mathematics"?
I became aware of the following article through Malke Rosenfeld. Thank you!
"With help from professional mathematicians, all of us should make an effort to learn something about the true masterpieces of mathematics, to be able to see big-picture math, the way we see art, literature and other sciences."
Hi Sheryl,
If you are looking for some very specific things, I have a few ideas. I am in the same situation. One thing that has helped me is learning about math history. Now that I've read a few books and a number of articles there, I'm hoping to tackle some big classic mathematical problems. I picked up for my summer reading a book called "Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics." This looks like a good starting point, although I haven't read it yet. Goodreads gives it over 4 stars: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/116185.Journey_...
The above book requires an understanding of high school math. If you're looking for things to do with kids, I have found some things in 2 good places:
1) The website Math Pickle http://mathpickle.com/K-12/,000,000_Problems.htm... which lists unsolved problems in math that are accessible to children, sorted by grade level
2) The book Chances Are: Adventures in Probability, by Michael and Ellen Kaplan. This book exposed me to a problem that may have been my middle school students' deepest work in mathematical thinking: Bertrand's Paradox. You can google the problem, or read the book for it and many other issues taken within their historical perspectives, or find it in James Tanton's Solve This! which discusses the problem in terms of working it with middle schoolers in various ways.
I'll enjoy reading everyone else's suggestions in answer to your question,
Rodi Steinig
Thank you for all these resources to check out, Rodi!
The article that opened my eyes to a the math as an art form was a paper written by Paul Lockhart, which I hope that everyone has already read: http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf For me this is the greatest treatise on the problems with math education ever written. Paul's new book Measurement is an incredibly fun and passionate way to approach some higher math concepts as well.
Thank you for posting. I will look forward to reading this.
For me studying for a Montessori teaching certificate began an awareness of "math wonder." Like beginning the study of a foreign language late in life, I realize that the idea of beginning the study of math late in life might make some laugh. (Time here for laughter.) "A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe" by Michael S. Schneider was also part of my newly found reason to learn.
I have small grandchildren, so I hope to intrigue them from time to time with things I learn from Moby & friends. (e.g. mirror books).
Back to Montessori. . . In an authentic Montessori classroom is the most alluring Bead Cabinet one could imagine, given three dimensions. I encourage any reader, here, unfamiliar with Montessori to visit a school and ask for a math lesson. As I make my way through the book "Flatland" I wonder how the numbers 1-10 to the fourth power would "sit" in the Bead Cabinet alongside the squares and cubes.
