Math Professor Equates "Marketing" of Mathematics to Marketing of Teeth Whiteners

October 27, 2010

A mathematics professor has claimed that the "marketing" of mathematics is akin to the "marketing of creams to whiten teeth, gels to grow hair and regimens to build a beautiful body."

In a recent opinion piece in The Washington Post, Ganapathiagraharam Visvanathan (G.V.) Ramanathan (University of Illinois) wrote, "Unlike literature, history, politics and music, math has little relevance to everyday life."

All the mathematics one needs in real life, he stated, "can be learned in early years without much fuss. Most adults have no contact with math at work, nor do they curl up with an algebra book for relaxation."

Ramanathan, who specialized in statistical mechanics and critical phenomena during his career, indicated that "There is no obligation to love math any more than grammar, composition, curfew or washing-up after dinner. Why create a need to make it palatable to all and spend taxpayers' money on pointless endeavors without demonstrable results or accountability?"

U.S. graduate schools are already the best in the world, according to Ramanathan; the nation, moreover, has produced about 140 Nobel laureates since 1983—about as many as before 1983.

Having survived the "New Math" of the 1960s, he concluded, "We will probably survive this math evangelism as well—thanks to the irrelevance of pedagogical innovation."

The comment section under the article, which has since been closed by The Post, has over 200 entries. One commenter wrote, "When I became a graphic designer 30 years ago, work was done using simple math, rapidograph pens and rubber cement. Now I need to program for websites, and wish I had taken higher level math when I was young. There's absolutely no predicting what young people today will need in their jobs 30 years from now, but I'll hazard a guess and pick mathematics."

Another commenter wrote, "Ridiculous. As an engineer, I use math every day from calculus to geometry to finite field algebra to probability theory, you name it. Is overemphasis on math in education really a societal problem in the US? No, it isn't."

Source: The Washington Post  (October 23, 2010)