Often movies include scenes showing math. Often, the math is on a blackboard or whiteboard in a character’s room or office, or in the background of the credits roll at the end of the show. The intended effect is, I guess, to tell the audience “this character is a genius of some sort, he or she is going to provide the hero with some amazing invention or information that will help defeat the villain”.
Tag: math
The Math Of European Debt
If you have 1000 Euros you want to invest, what do you do?
Is Math Real or Invented?
When we learn that, say, 2+2=4, is that something really true about the universe, or is it something some caveman made up? Does a cube exist as something more than just a figment of our imagination?
Math – A Kid’s Perspective
My son wrote an essay on math the other day. I thought I’d reproduce it here. You can think of him, therefore, as my first ‘guest blogger’. I’ve edited it only very slightly.
Is Math Really Important?
I met someone after church the other day, and the conversation went like this
- Someone: And what’s your speciality?
- Me: Mathematics
- Someone: So, you teach in the University?
- Me: No, why should I be teaching in the University just because I specialise in mathematics?
There seems to be a general impression (and I’m deliberately overstating this) that the only use for math is to teach it. Even some teachers believe this, apparently. Here’s another conversation I had with someone at a bus stop :