Posts Tagged ‘algebra’
Algebra as arithmetic on names
Posted by: Gary Ernest Davis on: February 1, 2010
Arithmetic on names Algebra is powerful because it allows us, among other things, to do arithmetic on the names of variables or unknown quantities and find specific numerical values for those variables or unknowns. If, as some people assert (wrongly, in my view) that mathematics is only a language, then it is a very peculiar […]
Beginner's mind: seeing the mathematics
Posted by: Gary Ernest Davis on: January 22, 2010
My colleague has a Ph.D. in mathematics and two young children – 9 and 11 years of age. She writes the following account of her children’s engagement with a word problem: Yesterday my 9 year old was struggling with the following problem: “Suzi and Joey had the same amount of money. Then they went shopping. […]
