Why We Study Math

     Ridgewood has once again taken up the debate regarding what is the best type of Math curriculum to teach their children. This is a very healthy debate and one that thankfully re-surfaces every generation. 

     The irony of the debate is that kids will ask the same question no matter who has authored the books: "Why do we need to study Math?" This was as common when I went to school as I am sure it is now. It is the answers that the children are given which to me remains the most important consideration. I remember three good Math teachers during my 13 years in the Ridgewood School System: Gene Ricci, George Reck, and Kenneth Humiston. There were many other good ones but these three were memorable because they were all champions of Mathematics and had no trouble telling us why we needed to continue studying Math all our lives. 

     The best of the three was Gene Ricci. He taught advanced Math to us in the 6th grade at Willard School. One day I clearly remember he spoke about Base 2 and Base 8. For those of you who don't remember, Base 10 includes the decimal numbers 0-9. Base 2 is the binary numbering system, and Base 8 is the Octal counting system. I mention this because before he had gone too far along in his explanation he saw in his students' eyes the age old question: what were we going to use this for. His answer was quite astounding. He admitted he don't know yet but was sure it would be useful to know someday. This actually satisfied us, I believe, because it was honest and looking back on it all very true! You see, Base 2 is used internally by all modern computers. Gene Ricci may have been teaching it to us in an age of rotary phones but he was spot-on to show us this Math and all its potential. I owe my current career in Computer Networking to Binary and Octal Mathematics and am thankful we didn't discourage Gene Ricci from teaching these concepts to us. 

     It was true that nobody knew back then how computers would one day become so omnipresent, and I'm sure the same is true of Mathematical concepts yet to be authored. So why do we need to study Math? In a phrase, because it allows us to be of use. If I was in a Math teacher's shoes that is what I would tell my students. It may not be the most clever or thoughtful answer but it does come to the point. If that wasn't enough for them I would ask them to Google the question and have them look for this: "The special role of mathematics in education is a consequence of its universal applicability. The results of mathematics--theorems and theories--are both significant and useful; the best results are also elegant and deep. Through its theorems, mathematics offers science both a foundation of truth and a standard of certainty. In addition to theorems and theories, mathematics offers distinctive modes of thought which are both versatile and powerful, including modeling, abstraction, optimization, logical analysis, inference from data, and use of symbols. Mathematics, as a major intellectual tradition, is a subject appreciated as much for its beauty as for its power. The enduring qualities of such abstract concepts as symmetry, proof, and change have been developed through 3,000 years of intellectual effort. Like language, religion, and music, mathematics is a universal part of human culture."