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THE CAMPUS MIRROR
5
WHAT'S WRONG WITH
“MATH?”
Minnie E. Cu reton, '30
Mathematics has its origin in the familiar
needs of common life, in the homely necessity
of counting herds and measuring land. Long
before the science rose to the level of an art, in
the days of Euclid and Archemedes, Plato, in
the wisdom of his mature years, judged it es
sential to the education of the freeman, because
said he. “There is in it a necessary something
with which even God cannot contend and without
which gods nor demi-gods can wisely govern
mankind.” Prior to the invention of analytical
geometry and infinitesimal calculus, Galileo dis
covered his law of falling bodies and Newton
his law of gravitation which laid the founda
tion of our modern knowledge of nature. Thus
we see that even the history of mathematics is
a noble one.
Today there is no subject, except the mother
tongue, which is more intimately connected with
everyday life and so necessary to the conduct of
affairs. The housewife, the farmer and the
laborer, all must be able to manipulate figures
and calculate accurately in order to manage their
enterprises with as little loss as possible. The
banker and the business man must be thoroughly
acquainted with the facts of mathematics. In
fact every person, from the huckster on the
street to the President in the White House,
finds it necessary to think frequently in terms
of numbers and their relations.
But widespread as are the applications of
mathematics and as enormous as are the practical
values, one might argue that the average person
has little need of these facts or opportunity to
use them beyond the mere elements of arith
metic. How then can one justify the study of
higher mathematics? If this is true it applies
with equal force to every other subject of study.
Only the fundamentals of English or history
or French are constantly employed by the ma
jority of citizens. Just as only the poet, the
novelist, and the essayist use the highest forms
of English; the historian, the politician, and
the author, the most advanced forms of history;
even so the civil engineer applies the principles
of higher mathematics in order to span rivers
with huge bridges and trestles; so the architect
uses the beauty of symmetry and the grace of
curves, found in higher mathematics, in his
works of greatest art. So widespread are the
applications of higher mathematics that J. W.
Young, Associate Professor of Mathematics at
Chicago University, said, "Wherever we turn in
these days <>t iron, steam and electricity, we find
mathematics ha<$ been the pioneer and guarantee
of the results. Were the background of mathe
matics removed our material civilization would
inevitably collapse."
Besides their practical values, subjects are im
portant for the information which they impart.
This is an important reason for the study of
geography, history, and literature, and it is
equally true of mathematics. Unlike any other
subject, though, the information imparted by this
science has remained the same in all countries
and at all times. The physicist is greatly dis
tressed to find that the atom, long considered
the unit of investigation, has been broken into
smaller integers. In biology new and conflict
ing theories about the origin and development of
life are brought forth that discredit former in
formation ; and even in history there is an un
certainty about the time and primary causes of
outstanding movements. But in mathematics
at no time has one nation found that 9x8=72 and
another that 9x8=73. No mathematician has
found that parallel lines extended however far
will never meet and another that they will meet
if extended far enough. No age has proved that
the square on the hypotenuse of a right triangle
is equal to the sum of the squares on the other
two sides, while another age found it to be half
the sum. Thus we see that the information im
parted by mathematics is as constant and re
liable as time itself.
The most salient advantage gained from the
study of mathematics is the formation of a
type of thought which is of uttermost import
ance to everyone. It is the ability to grasp a
situation, get the facts and perceive correctly
the state of affairs. This is a prerequisite to
success in every occupation, but it is a hard thing
to do in actual life. The lawyer must grasp the
truth or falsity of the facts presented by his
client before he can argue the case intelligently.
The physician must contend with the inability
of the patient to understand or describe his af
fliction. The crucial facts are often buried
under a mass of trivial or irrelevant details.
Mathematics is especially adapted to the begin
ning of this practice for the facts are simple
and uncomplicated. In geometry an individual
concentrates upon what is to be done and the
material given (hypothesis) with which to do it.
When the situation is grasped, when the facts
are well in hand, inferences are made from
them, and conclusions formed and tested. After
much practice in such routine, this kind of think
ing will become habitual. After all, “all actions
are influenced by conclusions that have been con
sciously or unconsciously drawn. This fact is
fundamental. If it is not habitually well done,
whatever edifice of culture may be built is
warped and insecure. The conclusions which
must be made by the score every day are of a
complicated nature. The facts are so many, so
elaborate, so imperfectly known that it is often
difficult to draw any conclusion, much less be
sure that we have the right one,” Therefore
mathematics should be studied, if for no other
reason than to familiarize students with this
important mode of thought.
The minister-president of an eastern college
says his generation did everything that a youth
of today does, but kept quiet about it,—a
somewhat tardy confession.—The Columbia
M issourian.
The human brain is a wonderful organ. It
starts working the moment we get up in the
morning and doesn’t stop until we get to class.—
Anonymous.
Packard Hall was the recipient of a de
lightful surprise on last Monday morning
when Mrs. Harriet Francis, of Wisconsin,
was introduced as the new Hall Mother.
Packard girls extend to her a hearty wel
come and assure her of their hearty co
operation for the remainder of the school
LATIN THE UNIVERSAL
LANGUAGE
Gussie R. Merlalla, ’30
The radio has done more than anything else
to bring all people of the earth into communi
cation, and because the radio is creating a new
world, there is an imperative need for a common
language that will serve as a medium of com
munication to all.
Dr. Magoffin says that travelers, tourists,
business men, scholars in every field, and pro
fessional people of every sort; lay more of their
failures to misunderstanding than to anything
else.
Since Latin was once the universal language,
and is now the secondary language of practically
every nation, why should it not now become the
universal language ?
Some facts which indicate that Latin could
be as easily acquired as any other universal
language are:
About sixty-three per cent of the words in the
English language are derived from Latin. It is
also the basis of the Romance languages: Italian,
Portuguese, Spanish, French and others. Latin
has been the language of the Roman Catholic
church for seventeen centuries. In European
universities many dissertations are still written
in Latin. The original terms of the sciences of
physics, chemistry, geology, biology, engineer
ing, psychology and others are derived from
Latin. The names of all new terms in these
growing sciences are also Latin derivatives. The
language and literature of mathematics, law,
medicine, astronomy and history had their be
ginnings while Latin was the universal language
and caught the influence of Latin in their ter
minology.
One way to awaken and stimulate interest
in learning this language is to play upon peo
ples’ curiosity by teaching Latin phrases and
giving lessons in Latin by radio just, as other
information is broadcast. This would cause
radio listeners who had studied a little Latin to
recall their knowledge of the language and
those who had not studied any to put forth an
effort to learn some.
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