The Maths Gene : Why Everyone Has It, but Most People Don't Use It - Softcover

Keith-devlin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0297645714 ISBN 13: 9780297645719

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000

Synopsis

The Maths Gene explains how the human mind came to – and continues to – perform mathematical reasoning. Where does this ability come from? Our prehistoric ancestors’ brains were essentially the same as ours, so they must have had the same underlying ability. What purpose could it serve in 50,000bc? And what exactly goes on in our brains when we multiply 15 by 36 or prove Fermat’s last theorem?

The answer, according to Keith Devlin, lies within our genes and more specifically with the pattern-making abilities with which we are born. He uses this insight to reveal why some people feel that they ‘can’t do maths’, while a select few excel at the subject and to suggest ways in which we can improve our mathematical skills. He also answers the following questions: · Are there things I can do to improve my mathematical skills? (YES) · Can new-born babies do mathematics? (YES) · Do mathematicians have a key secret that enables them to do mathematics with apparent ease? (YES) · Do Chinese and Japanese children have a built-in advantage over American and European children when it comes to learning mathematics? (YES)

About this title

Review

For many, the mere word "mathematics" is enough to conjure memories of incomprehension at school, and fear and loathing ever afterward. Countless otherwise well-educated people see mathematics as the skeleton in their intellectual closet--the one key subject demanding a talent that they so obviously did not possess.

Or so it seems to anyone who has felt very much on the outside of the subject. British mathematician Keith Devlin is certainly on the inside, and in The Math Gene, he has wonderful news for everyone: we can all join him there. For Devlin argues that we all possess the ability to cope with mathematics--if only we recognize what's required. While a number of recent books, notably Stanislas Dehaene's The Number Sense, have focused on numerical ability, the scope of Devlin's book is much larger. He examines the evidence that we all possess, if not literally a gene, then at least an inherent ability not just for arithmetic but for real mathematics: algebra, calculus, and the rest. Devlin even puts forward a Darwinian explanation for the origin of this ability, based on the idea that being able to handle abstract ideas and relationships confers key evolutionary advantages.

Mathematics merely involves a relatively high level of abstraction--but one we can all cope with, if we work at it. "Doing mathematics is very much like running a marathon," writes Devlin. "It does not require any special talent, and 'finishing' is largely a matter of wanting to succeed."

In its wealth of wonderful examples supporting the central argument, The Math Gene bears comparison with Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct, and its plain common sense about this most misunderstood of subjects is inspirational. Thoroughly recommended for anyone seeking to rid their intellectual closet of the skeleton of mathematical "incompetence." --Robert Matthews, Amazon.co.uk

About the Author

Keith Devlin is Senior Researcher at the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford University, Professor of Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh and Dean of Science at Saint Mary’s College of California. He has written a regular column on mathematics for the Guardian since 1983, and is the award-winning author of 24 books about mathematics and well as an experienced broadcaster.

Edition details

• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0297645714
• ISBN 13: 9780297645719
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English