What is mathematics? It is only a systematic effort of solving puzzles posed by nature.
Shakuntala DeviRead
Many go through life afraid of numbers and upset by numbers. They would rather amble along through life miscounting, miscalculating and, in general, mismanaging their worldly affairs than make friends with numbers.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of being comfortable with numbers rather than avoiding them.
Shakuntala Devi highlights the common fear and misunderstanding many people have towards numbers, suggesting that this aversion leads to poor management of one's life and affairs. By encouraging individuals to embrace and understand numbers, she advocates for the value of mathematical literacy and its impact on making informed decisions in life.
In practice
During a finance workshop, I shared this quote to encourage participants to embrace budgeting and accounting.
Students of reading, writing and common arithmetick . . . Graecian [Greek], Roman, English and American history . . . should be rendered . . . worthy to receive, and able to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens.
Simply put, girls and women are the keys that will unlock sustainable development. They are also at the center of the healthier and more resilient societies we desire.
When I write, I'm still imagining a kid reading it on paper. I read e-books when I travel, but in general I still prefer holding an old-fashioned book in my hands. There's a special, tactile experience.
Bureaucratic solutions to problems of practice will always fail because effective teaching is not routine, students are not passive, and questions of practice are not simple, predictable, or standardized. Consequently, instructional decisions cannot be formulated on high then packaged and handed down to teachers.
So far has Athens left the rest of mankind behind in thought and expression that her pupils have become the teachers of the world, and she has made the name of Hellas distinctive no longer of race but of intellect, and the title of Hellene a badge of education rather than of common descent.
You can't have too many books featuring people of color, just like you can't have too many books featuring white people.
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