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 Benjamin: Ensinem estatística antes de cálculo.

Filmed:
2,625,810 views

Alguém sempre pergunta ao professor de matemática, "Vou usar cálculo na vida real?" E para a maioria de nós, diz Arthur Benjamin, a resposta é não. Ele oferece uma proposta ousada sobre como fazer com que o ensino da matemática seja relevante na era digital.
- 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
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Agora, se o presidente Obama
00:15
invited me to be the next Czar of Mathematics,
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me convidasse para ser
o próximo "Czar" da matemática
00:19
then I would have a suggestion for him
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eu teria uma sugestão
00:22
that I think would vastly improve
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a qual imagino que melhoraria em muito
00:24
the mathematics education in this country.
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o ensino da matemática neste país.
00:27
And it would be easy to implement
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E seria fácil de implementar
00:29
and inexpensive.
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e de baixo custo.
00:31
The mathematics curriculum that we have
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Nosso atual currículo escolar de matemática
00:33
is based on a foundation of arithmetic and algebra.
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é baseado nos fundamentos
da aritmética e álgebra.
00:37
And everything we learn after that
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E tudo que aprendemos a partir deste ponto
00:39
is building up towards one subject.
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é direcionado a um assunto.
00:42
And at top of that pyramid, it's calculus.
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E no topo desta pirâmide, está o cálculo.
00:46
And I'm here to say
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E estou aqui para dizer
00:48
that I think that that is the wrong summit of the pyramid ...
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que acho que este é
o pico errado da pirâmide...
00:52
that the correct summit -- that all of our students,
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que o pico correto --
que todos nossos estudantes,
00:54
every high school graduate should know --
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todos formados no ensino médio
deveriam saber --
00:56
should be statistics:
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deveria ser estatística:
00:59
probability and statistics.
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probabilidade e estatística.
01:01
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
01:03
I mean, don't get me wrong. Calculus is an important subject.
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Quero dizer, não me interpretem mal.
Cálculo é uma disciplina importante.
É um dos grandes produtos da mente humana.
01:07
It's one of the great products of the human mind.
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01:09
The laws of nature are written in the language of calculus.
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As leis da natureza estão escritas
na linguagem do cálculo.
01:13
And every student who studies math, science, engineering, economics,
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E todo estudante que estuda matemática,
ciências, engenharia, economia,
01:17
they should definitely learn calculus
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deveria definitivamente aprender cálculo
01:19
by the end of their freshman year of college.
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ao final do primeiro ano de faculdade.
01:21
But I'm here to say, as a professor of mathematics,
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Mas estou aqui para dizer,
como um professor em matemática,
01:24
that very few people actually use calculus
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que poucas pessoas
realmente utilizam cálculo
01:28
in a conscious, meaningful way, in their day-to-day lives.
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de forma consciente
e significativa em seu dia a dia.
01:31
On the other hand,
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Por outro lado,
01:33
statistics -- that's a subject that you could,
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estatística -- esta é uma disciplina
que você poderia,
01:36
and should, use on daily basis. Right?
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e deveria, utilizar no dia a dia. Certo?
01:39
It's risk. It's reward. It's randomness.
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É risco. É recompensa. É aleatoriedade.
01:42
It's understanding data.
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É entender dados.
01:44
I think if our students, if our high school students --
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Imagino que se nossos alunos,
se nossos alunos do curso secundário --
01:46
if all of the American citizens --
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se todos cidadãos americanos --
01:48
knew about probability and statistics,
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conhecessem probabilidade e estatística,
01:51
we wouldn't be in the economic mess that we're in today. (Laughter) (Applause)
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não estaríamos na "bagunça"
econômica em que estamos hoje.
01:54
Not only -- thank you -- not only that ...
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Não somente -- obrigado --
não somente isto....
01:57
but if it's taught properly, it can be a lot of fun.
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mas se ensinada apropriadamente,
pode ser bastante divertida.
02:00
I mean, probability and statistics,
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Digo, probabilidade e estatística,
02:02
it's the mathematics of games and gambling.
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é a matemática de jogos e apostas.
02:06
It's analyzing trends. It's predicting the future.
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É analisar tendências. É prever o futuro.
02:10
Look, the world has changed
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Vejam, o mundo mudou
02:12
from analog to digital.
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de analógico para digital.
02:15
And it's time for our mathematics curriculum to change
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E é hora de nosso currículo
de matemática mudar
02:18
from analog to digital,
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de analógico para digital.
02:20
from the more classical, continuous mathematics,
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De uma matemática mais clássica e contínua,
02:24
to the more modern, discrete mathematics --
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para uma matemática
mais moderna e discreta.
02:27
the mathematics of uncertainty,
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A matemática da incerteza,
02:29
of randomness, of data --
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da aleatoriedade, dos dados --
02:31
that being probability and statistics.
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ou seja, probabilidade e estatística.
02:34
In summary, instead of our students
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Resumindo, ao invés de nossos estudantes
02:36
learning about the techniques of calculus,
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aprenderem sobre as técnicas de cálculo,
02:39
I think it would be far more significant
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eu acho que seria bem mais significativo
02:42
if all of them knew what two standard deviations
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se todos eles soubessem
o que dois desvios padrão
02:45
from the mean means. And I mean it.
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da média significa. E falo sério.
02:48
Thank you very much.
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Muito obrigado
02:50
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)

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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