What does that have to do with mathematics education? Well, when I occasionally meet people at parties who learn that I am a mathematician and professor, they sometimes show a bit of repressed hostility. One man once said something to me like, "You know, I had to memorize the quadratic formula in school and I've never once done anything with it. I've since forgotten it. What a waste. Have YOU ever had to use it aside from teaching it?"
What are you going to say to this hostile party goer?
I'm going to say, "well you have never done anything with it cause people already done a lot with it and you just don't know."
The quadratic formula opens up a new chapter in mathematics... it opens up a new chapter in human civilization!
Without the quadratic formula you can't solve quadratic equations if you can't factor the quadratic involved (and civilization is just stuck then). Quadratic equations do show up in real science, a simple example being Newtonian mechanics... d=vit+(1/2)a t2. Ancient mathematicians challenge each other about whether solutions exist or not.... quadratic formula enabled math to go forward beyond solving the simplest equations. It opens up branches of mathematics involving (brave new world of) complex numbers.
Please do not belittle any academic people, especially at parties.
And I am not going to ask the professor the glorious details of his research of algebraic topology either.
1 comment:
The hostile folk is often afraid and feel threatened.
The quad equation gives 2 equally good answers that freaks out many students. "Complex" or "imaginary" numbers are just poorly named. There ain't nothing complex about complex numbers, is there? The name is intimidating.
For most jobs, arithmetic is enough.
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