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!

Arthur Benjaminova formula kako poboljšati obrazovanje iz matematike

Filmed:
2,625,810 views

Uvijek se nađe netko tko pita profesora matematike: "Hoće li mi infinitezimalni račun ikad zatrebati u stvarnom životu?" Za većinu nas, tvrdi Arthur Benjamin, odgovor je ne. Ipak, on iznosi vrlo domišljat prijedlog koji bi matematička znanja koja stječemo trebao učiniti značajnim za korištenje u digitalnom dobu.
- 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 PresidentPredsjednik ObamaObama
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Kad bi me predsjednik Obama
00:15
invitedpozvan me to be the nextSljedeći CzarCar of MathematicsMatematika,
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pozvao da postanem novi Car matematike
00:19
then I would have a suggestionprijedlog for him
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tada bih mu predložio mjeru
00:22
that I think would vastlymnogo improvepoboljšati
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za koju vjerujem kako bi značajno poboljšala
00:24
the mathematicsmatematika educationobrazovanje in this countryzemlja.
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način predavanja matematike u ovoj državi.
00:27
And it would be easylako to implementimplementirati
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Tu mjeru je jednostavno implementirati
00:29
and inexpensivejeftin.
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i nije preskupa.
00:31
The mathematicsmatematika curriculumnastavni plan that we have
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Nastavni program matematke koji koristimo
00:33
is basedzasnovan on a foundationtemelj of arithmeticaritmetika and algebraalgebra.
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temelji se na osnovama aritmetike i algebre.
00:37
And everything we learnnaučiti after that
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Sve što naučimo nakon toga je
00:39
is buildingzgrada up towardsza one subjectpredmet.
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usmjereno prema jednome cilju.
00:42
And at topvrh of that pyramidpiramida, it's calculusračun.
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A na vrhu piramide je infinitezimalni račun.
00:46
And I'm here to say
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Iz tog razloga želim reći
00:48
that I think that that is the wrongpogrešno summitvrh of the pyramidpiramida ...
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da je po mom mišljenju vrh piramide krivo postavljen,
00:52
that the correctispravan summitvrh -- that all of our studentsstudenti,
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da ispravan vrh treba biti taj da svi naši studenti,
00:54
everysvaki highvisok schoolškola graduatediplomirani should know --
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svi maturanti u srednjim školama moraju
00:56
should be statisticsstatistika:
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poznavati statistiku:
00:59
probabilityvjerojatnost and statisticsstatistika.
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vjerojatnost i statistiku.
01:01
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
01:03
I mean, don't get me wrongpogrešno. CalculusRačun is an importantvažno subjectpredmet.
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Nemojte me krivo shvatiti. Infinitezimalni račun je značajan.
01:07
It's one of the great productsproizvodi of the humanljudski mindum.
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On je među najznačajnijim proizvodima ljudskog uma.
01:09
The lawszakoni of naturepriroda are writtennapisan in the languagejezik of calculusračun.
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Zakoni prirode pisani su jezikom infinitezimalnog računa.
01:13
And everysvaki studentstudent who studiesstudije mathmatematika, scienceznanost, engineeringinženjering, economicsekonomija,
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Svaki student matematike, prirodnih znanosti, inžinjerskih disciplina ili ekonomije
01:17
they should definitelydefinitivno learnnaučiti calculusračun
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trebao bi svakako ovladati infinitezimalnim računom
01:19
by the endkraj of theirnjihov freshmanbrucoš yeargodina of collegekoledž.
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do kraja prve godine studija.
01:21
But I'm here to say, as a professorprofesor of mathematicsmatematika,
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No, ovdje, kao profesor matematike, želim reći
01:24
that very fewnekoliko people actuallyzapravo use calculusračun
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kako vrlo malo ljudi doista koristi infinitezimalni račun
01:28
in a conscioussvjestan, meaningfulznačajan way, in theirnjihov day-to-daydan za danom livesživot.
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u svakodnevnom životu u svjesnom i korisnom obliku.
01:31
On the other handruka,
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S druge strane,
01:33
statisticsstatistika -- that's a subjectpredmet that you could,
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statistika je sredstvo kojeg možemo
01:36
and should, use on dailydnevno basisosnova. Right?
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i koje trebamo svakodnevno koristiti. Zar ne?
01:39
It's riskrizik. It's rewardnagrada. It's randomnessslučajnost.
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Tu je rizik. To je nagrada. To je slučajan izbor.
01:42
It's understandingrazumijevanje datapodaci.
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To je razumijevanje podataka.
01:44
I think if our studentsstudenti, if our highvisok schoolškola studentsstudenti --
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Kad bi naši studenti i učenici srednjih škola --
01:46
if all of the AmericanAmerički citizensgrađani --
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svi građani Sjedinjenih Američkih Država --
01:48
knewznao about probabilityvjerojatnost and statisticsstatistika,
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poznavali osnove vjerojatnosti i statistike
01:51
we wouldn'tne bi be in the economicekonomski messnered that we're in todaydanas. (LaughterSmijeh) (ApplausePljesak)
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mi ne bismo bili u ekonomskom škripcu u kojem se nalazimo.
01:54
Not only -- thank you -- not only that ...
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Ne samo -- hvala -- ne samo to...
01:57
but if it's taughtučio properlypropisno, it can be a lot of funzabava.
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Kad bismo predavali kako treba, ta materija može biti vrlo zanimljiva.
02:00
I mean, probabilityvjerojatnost and statisticsstatistika,
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Naime, vjerojatnost i statistika,
02:02
it's the mathematicsmatematika of gamesigre and gamblingkockanje.
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to je matematika igara i klađenja.
02:06
It's analyzingAnalizirajući trendstrendovi. It's predictingpredviđanje the futurebudućnost.
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Analiziranje trendova. Predviđanje budućnosti.
02:10
Look, the worldsvijet has changedpromijenjen
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Pogledajte, svijet se promijenio
02:12
from analoganalog to digitaldigitalni.
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iz analognog u digitalni.
02:15
And it's time for our mathematicsmatematika curriculumnastavni plan to changepromijeniti
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Vrijeme je i da se nastavni program matematike promijeni
02:18
from analoganalog to digitaldigitalni,
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iz analognog u digitalni.
02:20
from the more classicalklasične, continuousstalan mathematicsmatematika,
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Umjesto predavanja klasične matematičke analize,
02:24
to the more modernmoderan, discretediskretna mathematicsmatematika --
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treba početi predavati modernu, diskretnu matematiku.
02:27
the mathematicsmatematika of uncertaintynesigurnost,
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Matematiku nesigurnosti,
02:29
of randomnessslučajnost, of datapodaci --
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slučajnosti i podataka --
02:31
that beingbiće probabilityvjerojatnost and statisticsstatistika.
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a to su upravo vjerojatnost i statistika.
02:34
In summarySažetak, insteadumjesto of our studentsstudenti
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Zaključimo, umjesto da naši studenti
02:36
learningučenje about the techniquesTehnike of calculusračun,
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uče osnovne tehnike infinitezimalnog računa,
02:39
I think it would be fardaleko more significantznačajan
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smatram kako bi bilo puno značajnije
02:42
if all of them knewznao what two standardstandard deviationsodstupanja
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da znaju koje su dvije stanardne devijacije
02:45
from the mean meanssredstva. And I mean it.
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od srednjih vrijednosti. Doista to i mislim.
02:48
Thank you very much.
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Hvala vam lijepo.
02:50
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
Translated by Ivan Szekeres
Reviewed by Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG

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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