Math You Can Really Use-Every Day
Chapter One
Close Enough
When we learned math in school we really learned it backward. Our
mathematics education-particularly our arithmetic education-began
with the least important numbers and worked through the years to get
us to the more important ones. I guess that follows the theory of having
to learn to walk before you can run and defers to the lower capacity
of the young child's mind to grasp more complex models.
Historically, mankind probably began to be concerned with numbers
when the idea of ownership of livestock began, or maybe even while
we were still hunters and gatherers. The first three numbers were probably
designated by one finger for 1, two fingers for 2, and a whole
hand's worth of fingers for many, to designate how many wooly mammoths
were ambling into hunting range. I can't conceive of a need for
a more specific greater number than many-at least before we
became herders and needed to keep track of our sheep and goats.
It's the Big Ones That Count
The fact of the matter is that the larger ... read full excerpt from Math You Can Really Use--Every Day ebook
