ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Arthur Benjamin - Mathemagician
Using daring displays of algorithmic trickery, lightning calculator and number wizard Arthur Benjamin mesmerizes audiences with mathematical mystery and beauty.

Why you should listen

Arthur Benjamin makes numbers dance. In his day job, he's a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College; in his other day job, he's a "Mathemagician," taking the stage in his tuxedo to perform high-speed mental calculations, memorizations and other astounding math stunts. It's part of his drive to teach math and mental agility in interesting ways, following in the footsteps of such heroes as Martin Gardner.

Benjamin is the co-author, with Michael Shermer, of Secrets of Mental Math (which shares his secrets for rapid mental calculation), as well as the co-author of the MAA award-winning Proofs That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof. For a glimpse of his broad approach to math, see the list of research talks on his website, which seesaws between high-level math (such as his "Vandermonde's Determinant and Fibonacci SAWs," presented at MIT in 2004) and engaging math talks for the rest of us ("An Amazing Mathematical Card Trick").

More profile about the speaker
Arthur Benjamin | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Arthur Benjamin: Teach statistics before calculus!

La formulo de Arthur Benjamin por ŝanĝi la instruadon de matematiko

Filmed:
2,625,810 views

Ĉiam estas iu, kiu demandas al sia instruisto de matematiko "Ĉu vere mi iam uzos kalkulon en la vivo?". Kaj por la plej multaj inter ni, diras Arthur Benjamin, la respondo estas ne. Li prezentas kuraĝan proponon por igi la instruadon de matematiko signifa en la cifereca erao.
- Mathemagician
Using daring displays of algorithmic trickery, lightning calculator and number wizard Arthur Benjamin mesmerizes audiences with mathematical mystery and beauty. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Now, if President Obama
0
0
3000
Se nun prezidento Obama
00:15
invited me to be the next Czar of Mathematics,
1
3000
4000
invitus min fariĝi la nova Caro de Matematiko,
00:19
then I would have a suggestion for him
2
7000
3000
mi tiam proponus al li ion,
00:22
that I think would vastly improve
3
10000
2000
kio multe plibonigus, mi kredas,
00:24
the mathematics education in this country.
4
12000
3000
la instruadon de matematiko en Usono.
00:27
And it would be easy to implement
5
15000
2000
Estus facile kaj malmultekoste
00:29
and inexpensive.
6
17000
2000
starigi tion.
00:31
The mathematics curriculum that we have
7
19000
2000
La nuna instruprogramo de matematiko
00:33
is based on a foundation of arithmetic and algebra.
8
21000
4000
baziĝas sur aritmetiko kaj algebro.
00:37
And everything we learn after that
9
25000
2000
Kaj ĉio, kion ni lernas poste
00:39
is building up towards one subject.
10
27000
3000
direktiĝas al unu temo.
00:42
And at top of that pyramid, it's calculus.
11
30000
4000
Kaj je la pinto de tiu piramido estas kalkulo.
00:46
And I'm here to say
12
34000
2000
Kaj mi venis por diri,
00:48
that I think that that is the wrong summit of the pyramid ...
13
36000
4000
ke mi kredas, ke ĝi estas la malĝusta pinto de la piramido,
00:52
that the correct summit -- that all of our students,
14
40000
2000
ke la ĝusta pinto - kion ĉiuj niaj studentoj,
00:54
every high school graduate should know --
15
42000
2000
ĉiu mezlerneja diplomito devus scii -
00:56
should be statistics:
16
44000
3000
devus esti statistiko:
00:59
probability and statistics.
17
47000
2000
probablo kaj statistiko.
01:01
(Applause)
18
49000
2000
(Aplaŭdoj)
01:03
I mean, don't get me wrong. Calculus is an important subject.
19
51000
4000
Ne miskomprenu min. Kalkulo estas grava temo.
01:07
It's one of the great products of the human mind.
20
55000
2000
Ĝi estas unu el la grandaj produktoj de la homa menso.
01:09
The laws of nature are written in the language of calculus.
21
57000
4000
La naturleĝoj skribiĝas per la lingvo de kalkulo.
01:13
And every student who studies math, science, engineering, economics,
22
61000
4000
Kaj ĉiu studento de matematiko, sciencoj, inĝenierarto, ekonomiko
01:17
they should definitely learn calculus
23
65000
2000
devus nepre lerni kalkulon
01:19
by the end of their freshman year of college.
24
67000
2000
antaŭ la fino de sia unua fakultata jaro.
01:21
But I'm here to say, as a professor of mathematics,
25
69000
3000
Sed mi venis diri, kiel profesoro de matematiko,
01:24
that very few people actually use calculus
26
72000
4000
ke tre malmultaj efektive uzas kalkulon
01:28
in a conscious, meaningful way, in their day-to-day lives.
27
76000
3000
laŭ konscia, signifoplena maniero, en sia ĉiutaga vivo.
01:31
On the other hand,
28
79000
2000
Aliflanke,
01:33
statistics -- that's a subject that you could,
29
81000
3000
statistiko - jen lernobjekto, kiun vi povus
01:36
and should, use on daily basis. Right?
30
84000
3000
kaj devus uzi ĉiutage. Ĉu ne?
01:39
It's risk. It's reward. It's randomness.
31
87000
3000
Estas risko. Estas premio. Estas hazardo.
01:42
It's understanding data.
32
90000
2000
Estas kompreno de datumoj.
01:44
I think if our students, if our high school students --
33
92000
2000
Mi kredas, ke se niaj studentoj, se niaj mezlernejanoj -
01:46
if all of the American citizens --
34
94000
2000
se ĉiuj usonaj civitanoj -
01:48
knew about probability and statistics,
35
96000
3000
scius pri probablo kaj statistiko,
01:51
we wouldn't be in the economic mess that we're in today. (Laughter) (Applause)
36
99000
3000
ni ne estus en la ekonomia konfuzo, en kiu ni estas nun.
01:54
Not only -- thank you -- not only that ...
37
102000
3000
Ne nur - dankon - ne nur tio...
01:57
but if it's taught properly, it can be a lot of fun.
38
105000
3000
sed se ĝi estas taŭge instruata, ĝi povas esti tre amuza.
02:00
I mean, probability and statistics,
39
108000
2000
Mi celas, probablo kaj statistiko
02:02
it's the mathematics of games and gambling.
40
110000
4000
estas la matematiko de ludoj kaj vetoj.
02:06
It's analyzing trends. It's predicting the future.
41
114000
4000
Ĝi estas la analizo de tendencoj. Ĝi estas antaŭdiri la estonton.
02:10
Look, the world has changed
42
118000
2000
Atentu, la mondo transiris
02:12
from analog to digital.
43
120000
3000
de la analogeco al la cifereco.
02:15
And it's time for our mathematics curriculum to change
44
123000
3000
Kaj estas tempo, ke nia matematika instruprogramo ŝanĝiĝu
02:18
from analog to digital,
45
126000
2000
de la analogeco al la cifereco.
02:20
from the more classical, continuous mathematics,
46
128000
4000
De la pli klasika, kontinua matematiko,
02:24
to the more modern, discrete mathematics --
47
132000
3000
al la pli moderna, diskreta matematiko.
02:27
the mathematics of uncertainty,
48
135000
2000
La matematiko de necerteco,
02:29
of randomness, of data --
49
137000
2000
de hazardo, de datumoj -
02:31
that being probability and statistics.
50
139000
3000
kaj tio estas probablo kaj statistiko.
02:34
In summary, instead of our students
51
142000
2000
Resume, anstataŭ oferi al niaj studentoj
02:36
learning about the techniques of calculus,
52
144000
3000
la lernadon de kalkul-teknikoj,
02:39
I think it would be far more significant
53
147000
3000
mi kredas, ke estus multe pli signifoplene
02:42
if all of them knew what two standard deviations
54
150000
3000
se ili ĉiuj scius, kion signifas du normaj diferencoj
02:45
from the mean means. And I mean it.
55
153000
3000
ĉirkaŭ la averaĝo. Jen ĉio.
02:48
Thank you very much.
56
156000
2000
Mi tre dankas vin.
02:50
(Applause)
57
158000
3000
(Aplaŭdoj)
Translated by James Piton
Reviewed by Leo De Cooman

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Arthur Benjamin - Mathemagician
Using daring displays of algorithmic trickery, lightning calculator and number wizard Arthur Benjamin mesmerizes audiences with mathematical mystery and beauty.

Why you should listen

Arthur Benjamin makes numbers dance. In his day job, he's a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College; in his other day job, he's a "Mathemagician," taking the stage in his tuxedo to perform high-speed mental calculations, memorizations and other astounding math stunts. It's part of his drive to teach math and mental agility in interesting ways, following in the footsteps of such heroes as Martin Gardner.

Benjamin is the co-author, with Michael Shermer, of Secrets of Mental Math (which shares his secrets for rapid mental calculation), as well as the co-author of the MAA award-winning Proofs That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof. For a glimpse of his broad approach to math, see the list of research talks on his website, which seesaws between high-level math (such as his "Vandermonde's Determinant and Fibonacci SAWs," presented at MIT in 2004) and engaging math talks for the rest of us ("An Amazing Mathematical Card Trick").

More profile about the speaker
Arthur Benjamin | Speaker | TED.com