An invaluable guide to thinking about uncertainty, from a master of the craft
Photograph: Science Photo Library
Oct 17th 2024
A hazard of teaching mathematics rather than, say, history is that the homework is a lot harder to come up with. After all, “was Henry VIII a good king?” is a reasonable question to ask either a classroom of nine-year-olds or a lecture theatre of postgraduates. But “solve this quadratic equation” would leave the classroom nonplussed and the lecture theatre unimpressed. Maths is learned by doing, and devising a problem that is easy enough to be accessible, yet hard enough to be satisfying, is a devilish problem itself.
Already have an account?Log in
Continue with a free trial
Get full access to our independent journalism for free
Or continue reading this article
Culture October 19th 2024
- Why the world is so animated about anime
- Is the deep ocean more magnificent than outer space?
- Food lovers the world over are tickled by pickles
- In the second world war, some diplomacy was done between the sheets
- How to analyse chance, ignorance and risk
- What don’t you know about your partner?
The Economist today
Handpicked stories, in your inbox
A daily newsletter with the best of our journalism
Yes, I agree to receive exclusive content, offers and updates to products and services from The Economist Group. I can change these preferences at any time.
Discover more
Richard Dawkins, British evolutionary biologist.
Darwin and Dawkins: a tale of two biologists
One public intellectual has spent his career defending the ideas of the other
Made in Mexico: why the new Hollywood is south of the border
Streamers and audiences can’t get enough Mexican drama
Can there ever be another great le Carré novel?
John le Carré’s son has written a bold new thriller in the vein of the great spy writer’s chronicles
Softbank’s gambling founder, Masayoshi Son, is catnip for authors
But readers will remember him as much for his missteps as for his successes
Is the idea of sexual identity relatively new?
A new history of American sexuality argues that it is