ADAM HART-DAVIS is quick to admit that for many people "maths is very difficult", a problem he attributes to the way in which the subject is taught in schools today. "A teacher says: 'So, the area of a circle is pi times the square of the radius. Has everyone got that?' Of course, everyone's completely mystified, but they nod and say yes to the teacher, and so the teacher moves on." Once you've missed that point, says Hart-Davis, "you're going to be hopelessly left behind. The result is that most of us grow up mathematically inept and we never get to love it. You need a rather special brain to cope with mathematics."
展开▼
