Sure, some [teachers] could give the standard limit definitions, but they [the students] clearly did not understand the definitions - and it would be a remarkable student who did, since it took mathematicians a couple of thousand years to sort out the notion of a limit, and I think most of us who call ourselves professional mathematicians really only understand it when we start to teach the stuff, either in graduate school or beyond.
Like a Shakespearean sonnet that captures the very essence of love, or a painting that brings out the beauty of the human form that is far more than … - Keith Devlin
Like a Shakespearean sonnet that captures the very essence of love, or a painting that brings out the beauty of the human form that is far more than …
- Keith Devlin
Calculus works by making visible the infinitesimally small. - Keith Devlin
Calculus works by making visible the infinitesimally small.
Mathematical thinking is not the same as doing mathematics - at least not as mathematics is typically presented in our school system. School math typ… - Keith Devlin
Mathematical thinking is not the same as doing mathematics - at least not as mathematics is typically presented in our school system. School math typ…
A PhD in Mathematics is three years of guessing it wrong, plus one week of getting it right and writing a dissertation. - Keith Devlin
A PhD in Mathematics is three years of guessing it wrong, plus one week of getting it right and writing a dissertation.
In fact, the answer to the question "What is mathematics?" has changed several times during the course of history... It was only in the last twenty y… - Keith Devlin
In fact, the answer to the question "What is mathematics?" has changed several times during the course of history... It was only in the last twenty y…
Though the structures and patterns of mathematics reflect the structure of, and resonate in, the human mind every bit as much as do the structures an… - Keith Devlin
Though the structures and patterns of mathematics reflect the structure of, and resonate in, the human mind every bit as much as do the structures an…
Just as music comes alive in the performance of it, the same is true of mathematics. The symbols on the page have no more to do with mathematics than… - Keith Devlin
Just as music comes alive in the performance of it, the same is true of mathematics. The symbols on the page have no more to do with mathematics than…
I certainly do care about measuring educational results. But what is an 'educational result?' The twinkling eyes of my students, together with their … - Keith Devlin
I certainly do care about measuring educational results. But what is an 'educational result?' The twinkling eyes of my students, together with their …
We mathematicians are used to the fact that our subject is widely misunderstood, perhaps more than any other subject (except perhaps linguistics). - Keith Devlin
We mathematicians are used to the fact that our subject is widely misunderstood, perhaps more than any other subject (except perhaps linguistics).
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