Rick answers “Did anyone else feel stupid reading this?...”

Christina McLain asked this question about Alan Turing: The Enigma:

Did anyone else feel stupid reading this? I was a teacher and now I finally know why kids get turned off in school. Couldn't stay awake through all the math prime numbets set theory blah blah..surely it could have been written with a slightly lighter touch on the mathematical theorems etc. His life and times were fascinating but the math!!!!

Rick OK. To each his/her own. The math was the most fascinating part of the book for me. I found the complex abstract ideas amazingly clearly explained. Th…moreOK. To each his/her own. The math was the most fascinating part of the book for me. I found the complex abstract ideas amazingly clearly explained. The writer has a real gift. "Kids get turned off in school"? I would have given much to have had these things taught to me when I was a kid. But I grant that kids are poorly taught and maybe that's an issue affecting Christina. For example, numbers are never introduced to kids as recursive objects; they're simply given as symbols. This is wrong. They are abstract ideas. Most kids are never taught that numbers are independent of their base 10 representation. I could go on... (less)

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