Loving and Hating Mathematics
Challenging the Myths of Mathematical Life
Publication Year: 2010
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.
Published by: Princeton University Press
Cover
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the consistent, intelligent, and enthusiastic support of the librarians at the Santa Fe Institute, Ms. Margaret Alexander and Mr. Timothy Taylor, and the commitment and clarity of thought and language of...
Introduction
This book, unlike most books on mathematics, is about mathematicians, their extraordinary passion for mathematics and their full complexity of being. We emphasize the social and emotional sides of mathematical life....
1: Mathematical Beginnings; A Passion for Numbers
In this chapter, we tell contrasting stories about the childhood, adolescence, and schooling, up through graduate school, of some future mathematicians, both famous and not so famous. We also report the experiences of youngsters in Olympiad competitions...
2: Mathematical Culture
Mathematicians constitute a community with a long, rich history. They recognize each other as fellow members of that community. What is the culture of mathematics and of the mathematical community?...
3: Mathematics as Solace
When looking at mathematical life, we usually focus on its public face: the institutions in which mathematicians work, their interactions within their communities, their jokes and eccentricities, their prizes and competitions, their breakthrough discoveries...
4: Mathematics as an Addiction: Following Logic to the End
The question is sometimes asked, To be a great mathematician, does being crazy help? The simple and straightforward answer is, No, of course not. Working in a university math department, or attending the meetings of the American Mathematical Society,...
5: Friendships and Partnerships
Do mathematicians have friends? The popular image of a mathematician is that of a solitary man, alone at his desk or blackboard. In this chapter, we will see how far from the truth this picture is. While the sustained concentration needed for mathematical...
6: Mathematical Communities
What sorts of communities do mathematicians form? How do their communities shape their lives? We will describe some informal groups, which were formed around specific needs of their participants. Whether inside or outside universities, communities...
7: Gender and Age in Mathematics
By the expression “a young man’s game” Hardy did not mean to exclude women. The famous British analyst Mary Cartwright was his student. In 1941, when Hardy wrote his Apology, normal usage was to write “man” either in the sense of “masculine” or...
8: The Teaching of Mathematics: Fierce or Friendly?
In the previous chapter we wrote about the impact of age and gender on the ways in which mathematicians develop and sustain their lives. We emphasized the importance of balance and social connections as sources of support when researchers face...
9: Loving and Hating School Mathematics
Mathematical life is an immersion in a world of endlessly varied forms and relations. The mathematician is challenged and tempted to commit all her energy and enthusiasm to learn and to understand. Mathematical thinking is also enjoyed by people...
Conclusions
We have completed our journey, our tour around various aspects of mathematical life. We looked at the beginnings of mathematical life for children and students. Then we studied some of its special features as a unique subculture of modern society....
Review of the Literature
The “popular” literature on mathematics is booming. Every year excellent new books are added to the shelves. There are books that intend to teach a particular branch of mathematics. Textbooks of course are a whole industry unto themselves. There...
E-ISBN-13: 9781400836116
E-ISBN-10: 1400836115
Print-ISBN-13: 9780691142470
Print-ISBN-10: 0691142475
Page Count: 428
Publication Year: 2010
Edition: Course Book
MUSE Marc Record: Download for Loving and Hating Mathematics