Review: Fear of Mathematics

1. Maths is not arithmetic however fluency with arithmetic can help maths. Maths learning starts when maths related concepts are observed and discussed in everyday life.

 

 

2. Maths is a processing art in the same way that cooking is. Skill and knowledge are needed to distill ingredients into delicious meals and there is a parallel in processing situations using mathematical understanding.

3. Some art forms cut to the chase and are the condensed version of others. This is true of prose and poetry, of descriptions and mathematical descriptions, and why I have attempted to use diagrams to explain Auerbach's work

This is an illustrated review of “The fear of mathematics and how to overcome it” by Felix Auerbach. Although the book was written in 1924, it was only translated into English a century later, in 2024. Its original German title is Die Furcht vor der Mathematik und ihre Uberwundung. At 104 pages it is fairly short, and few of the pages are taken up with translator’s notes and a short biography of Auerbach.

Nevertheless, the book resonated with me as a part-time educator, engineer and amateur mathematician. It could equally well have been titled “What mathematics is – and what it is not”. To get the message, the book needs to be read carefully, and although this book asserts that mathematics is poetical, taken as a whole it is hard to digest. For example, these sentences are related to the differences between arithmetic and mathematics:

“But when one then says, as happens repeatedly, that the pursuit of mathematics mechanizes one's spirit takes away one's freedom and forces us into pre-determined schemata, that is another egregious misunderstanding. It's the result of another piece of legerdemain.” and are wordy and not very poetical!

 Because I was keen to understand, and sympathetic to the arguments, I found myself visualising the words as diagrams and pictures. Some of these I jotted down on paper, they may help with an understanding or discussion of the book. Overall I thought the book worthwhile and full of concepts every maths educator, engineer, scientist and designer should be familiar with.

Ordering is through the website for the book, https://www.thefearofmathematics.com/

4. At the heart of every subject is a mathematical core or skeleton. An understanding the maths of a subject is vital and such a part of our world that everyone should be capable of it.

5. This can be expressed in another way: the blue figure has overcome fear of mathematics and is better able to see the true nature of arts and sciences. This is expressed more poetically by Auerbach, "Whoever knows how to read the language of mathematics is like the legendary Young Siegfried; they can commune with all the birds of the forest and the fields, and discover the secrets of nature, which remain forever unrevealed to people who are under the spell of lexical language."

A work involving artistic technique and maths can involve two methods, the artist can consult with a mathematician or the artist can acquire the mathematical knowledge. Auerbach prefers the second of these methods which leads to and expansion of the artists practice through knowledge.