I’ve been excited about Wolfram Alpha since I first laid eyes on it (according to Andy Beal I’m the only one). I love math, and I don’t believe for a moment that it’s something that exists only in school.
I look at the world as a series of numbers. Puzzles are solved with tangents, factors and functions. The games we play use geometry, algebra and calculus, we just don’t have names for them. We live and breathe math, we just call it other things.
Please get cozy, and watch Conrad Wolfram at Ted Global. He talks about math, and how we could be teaching it. It’s exciting, and everyone is an educator even if that’s not what we call you.
When you’re done watching this go ahead and stick your kids in front of Wolfram Alpha and just watch what they do. It’s so exciting.
A brilliant talk and a subject close to my heart. It pains me so much that we spend so much time in this country lamenting our miserable dearth of mathematical talent, then insulting those with the ability and motivation to become teachers rather than nurture it.
Thanks Jessica for pointing out the joy.