Suzanne's Column
April, 1999
It is difficult not to look out the window in April. Life explodes. Outside my window, a steady rain is falling, but the birds are undeterred. Activity is high as they dart, in pairs, from feeder to perch to treetop. A bluejay pair picks a piece of straw from the edge of my compost pile, and flies off to add it to their nest. Above them, a tiny Carolina wren proclaims, for all the world, this spot as his, no matter that he's small.
Our children are looking out of windows too. As the days warm up, and spring vacations end, it can be hard to get back to school. Well, those of us who love mathematics will tell you a secret: Mathematicians are dreamers. And not just ordinary dreamers, but champions.
Students ask, rightfully, "why should we study this stuff?" I think our answer misses the mark. "Because it's useful," we tell them.
Maybe. But that's not the only reason, nor is it even the main reason to study mathematics. And that common, and incomplete answer leads to the logical, and inevitable, "but I'm not going to be an engineer..." or "when will I ever need to factor a trinomial?"
In contemplation of the same question, Bertrand Russell wrote, "It is well to be reminded that not the mere fact of living is to be desired, but the art of living in the contemplation of great things." Great things.
We want our children to study mathematics, not because it is useful, but because it is lovely. Because windows are for looking through. Because contemplation of great things sets souls on fire, and turns the ordinary, into the extraordinary.
On a spring break three years ago, my daughter and I drove to Lehigh University to talk to Jerry King, author of The Art of Mathematics (published by Ballantine Books, 1992.) By a huge window overlooking the Lehigh Valley, we talked about the art of mathematics, and how to connect students to it.
"How can there exist a person who likes poetry and hates mathematics?" Dr. King asks. "Properly presented, they are much the same."
As parents we do not have much control over the manner of presentation in school, but we have everything to say over the manner of presentation at home. Discover some of math's loveliness - beyond its usefulness - with your children. Wander the math section in the public library. Read the sidebars in their textbooks, and pursue a topic that interests you. Encourage looking out of windows. Wonder with them. Don't worry if you can't explain the answers to their questions; understanding is not required to appreciate and wonder.
Dreamers belong in mathematics.
