Math Wrath

Forbes published a nice commentary with a focus on mathematics on Saturday. Here is a taster:

At the tender age of 8, I concluded that, among the varied destinies shimmering before me, being a profound mathematical genius was not one of them. I won't have a number named after me, like Signor Fibonacci, or propose a problem to perplex the generations, like Monsieur Fermat. Chances are I won't even get a dinner tip right.

The article is interesting in many ways. Among other things, it includes several thought provoking questions related to mathematics education. For instance: Why do we teach mathematics in the age of the calculator? The article also includes some historical anecdotes that might be of interest to some. In my opinion, it would have been even more interesting to go beyond these anecdotes, but that's a different story, I guess. (If you want a good resource on the history of mathematics that goes far beyond anecdotes, you should check out MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive!)