Epic counts - by Naomi Norman

For years, when in social situations and asked what I did, I'd avoid telling people I was a mathematician. I was fearful I'd get the comeback I once received: "Oh maths (pause) I had a calculator once!"

How do you respond to that?

The problem with maths is that people are all too happy to admit to being bad at it. This attitude, in my view, is the single biggest barrier to tackling the UK's numeracy skills.

Still, it seems, it has never been more 'fashionable' to be numerate at Epic! We are being approached more and more for our maths learning expertise. Last year, we won an award for the numeracy games we made for young soldier recruits in the British Army, and recently we've delivered over 300 GCSE maths e-resources to publisher, Harper Collins. Meanwhile, the opportunities to help clients with their numeracy and maths learning problems just keep on adding up!

Therefore, it is without shame, I share with you my favourite mathematics story (yes I do indeed have one!), which also serves to remind me about the different ways that people learn.

G H Hardy	Srinivasa Ramanujan

 

The Cambridge mathematician, Hardy, on visiting his friend, Ramanujan, in a London hospital recounts:

"I had ridden in taxi cab number 1729 and remarked that the number seemed to me rather a dull one and that I hoped it was not an unfavourable omen.

"No," Ramanujan replied, "it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways."

This is what he meant:

1729 = 1³ + 12³ (one sum of two cubes)

OR

1729 = 9³ + 10³ (a different sum of two cubes)

This story amazes me particularly because Srinivasa Ramanujan had almost no formal training in mathematics. It also serves to remind me of the importance of providing several routes through learning – to cater for both those who 'instantly get it' and those that need some assistance along the way. And we must also remember that learners may find many different meanings in the same things – while for Hardy the number 1729 meant nothing, for Ramanujan it was very significant.

A final note: now in social situations, I have no problem confessing to what I do...I find being Director of Learning for Epic, or indeed a mathematician, somewhat more favourable to certain other professions. For example, have you recently been at a party with a banker or a politician?