Seeking Relevance? Try the History of Mathematics

Abstract

What is mathematics? This seems like a curious question to pose to a reading audience of mathematics educators, but I would wager that, on reflection, it is a difficult one to answer. Of course, a variety of quips and clichés can supply the answer: “It's an art,” “A science—in fact, it's the queen and the servant of science,” “It's what I use when I balance my checkbook,” “A game that we play with rules we're not quite sure of,” and the apologetic favorite, “Something I was never good at”; and so the list can go on and on.