Julius N

I started programming computers in 1958. Yep, I really am that old! I went to school with Don Knuth and Mel Conway at Case Tech and worked with Grace Hopper at Sperry UNIVAC. The picture I use as my avatar was taken many years ago. When I went to school finding factors of a polynomial was necessary. Looking up values in a table was crucial. We knew the multiplication table up to 20 times 20, and memorized constants like log(2) so's we wouldn't be wasting time looking them up. I totally disagree with people who continue to do math today the same way we did sixty years ago. I want math teachers to show students how to use technology to solve problems. Telling a student to solve 10 sets of simultaneous linear equations by hand does not prepare them for life any more than learning to write cursive will make them a better writer. I support Y!A in the hope that it will disrupt our outdated math education and eliminate topics we can get computers to do for us.