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Are you "scientifically literate?" When you read the newspaper or see a television report on global warming or ozone depletion, do you understand how that will effect you personally? What about exponential population growth ... do you know what that really means? Do you care how federal agencies are disposing of nuclear waste? Do you think the computer system that handles the air traffic control system is adequate?
How prepared are you to discuss intelligently these topics? Even more important, how prepared are you to vote for your public officials who will represent you on the floor of the state house or Congress when decisions on these vital issues are made into laws?
We do not have the luxury to say we do not care about such topics. Every voice is important -- whether that voice is in favor, opposed, or silently lets others make the decisions for them.
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As information becomes ever more quantitative and as society relies increasingly on computers and the data they produce, an innumerate citizen today is as vulnerable as the illiterate peasant of Gutenberg's time. Numeracy is the new literacy of our age. As the printing press gave the power of letters to the masses, so the computer gives the power of numbers to ordinary citizens. Lynn Arther Steen |
Mathematics and science topics are in the media every day and to be an informed member of our society you have to be able to understand many math and science concepts -- or at least be able to form questions that can lead you to answers.
In the words of Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson,
"The harmony of the world is made manifest in form and number and the heart and soul of all the poetry of natural philosophy are embodied in the concept of mathematical beauty."And, one of my favorite quotes concerning mathematics is from the late Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, who said, "To those who do not know mathematics, it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature."
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I think we help people lead richer lives if we develop their appreciation of films, plays, novels, poetry, and music. The same is true if we develop their ability to appreciate and understand quantitative data and the patterns of mathematics. The individual who can appreciate the beauty and power of literature and of mathematics is better off than a person who can appreciate only one, whichever one it is. We don't have to make a choice, one or the other. We can have both. Keith Devlin |
As a mathematics teacher, I have often found students do not see mathematics in their everyday lives or in the world around them. I contend that mathematics can be found in every aspect of life, one need only to look for it. To facilitate your opening your eyes to mathematical beauty in daily life, I have developed the following...
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Seriously consider the value of mathematics and science in your education and your future. |
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Find an article from a newspaper / magazine / book (other than school texts) or a site on the web where math / science is important to the subject being discussed. |
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Photocopy the article if possible (or bring in the URL address of the web site). |
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Write at least one-page about how MATHEMATICS is necessary in the topic you have chosen. |
Need help on the format for your paper? Click on
to go to my Journal Guidelines page. Remember -- all sources
must be properly referenced.[ Back to TOP of Page ]
or to my links page at... 
Suggestions for Places to Begin a Web Seach for "Math in the News":
Remember that you can use ANY sort of news article for this project. You might find it easier to relate science news to math, but I think if you look for it you will find math related to any topic. Any of the sources listed below are excellent places to begin your search.
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This activity also helps me answer the question ... "Why do I have to learn this?" By failing to answer this question we send students a powerful message that mathematics has little utility and is therefore one more mindless requirement in the drudgery of the high school experience. But knowing how to use mathematics makes significant differences in people's lives. The ability to do mathematics affects whether planes fly, a car passes a smog check, a potentially life-saving drug is tested properly, a business operates profitably, poor eyesight is corrected, the bus arrives on time, or telephones transmit calls rapidly and efficiently. Students deserve a considered, concrete response to their question. One answer is to show them -- or better yet, engage them in -- mathematics at work. Quoting: Gary Hoachlander, |
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Matthew C. Whitney
