Everyone knows that arithmetic is true: 2 + 2 = 4. But surprisingly, we don't know why it's true. By stepping outside the box of our usual way of thinking about numbers, my colleagues and I have ...

Consider this sequence of numbers: 5, 7, 9. Can you spot the pattern? Here’s another with the same pattern: 15, 19, 23. One more: 232, 235, 238. “Three equally spaced things,” says Raghu Meka, a ...

What's the best way for children to learn arithmetic—memorizing number values and multiplication tables, or studying math at a deeper, conceptual level? Educators have long debated the merits of these ...

Barbie caught a lot of flack back in the ’90s for declaring, “Math class is tough!” Today we find ourselves in the disorienting position of defending her. We recently got a note from an anonymous ...

In certain math and physics topics, I encountered a lack of sufficient exercises for students to thoroughly master the material. This document contains enough exercises that can be used in a variety ...

While her grade school classmates were learning the alphabet and how to count to five, Andrea Bertozzi remembers studying negative numbers and modular arithmetic. Math often gets a bad rap as an ...

In the early years of the Republic, arithmetic was generally taught to teenaged boys planning careers in commerce, often by private tutors. With the advent of free common or elementary schools ...

Everyone knows that arithmetic is true: 2 + 2 = 4. But surprisingly, we don’t know why it’s true. By stepping outside the box of our usual way of thinking about numbers, my colleagues and I have ...