The New Math Explained in Song.

published by Wumpus

1 year 5 months 1 week ago • 1122 views

tags: math, subtraction, base8, tom lehrer

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For those of you who learned the New Math are now free to explain it to the rest of us.

I found a few of these and they were all derivatives of the same concept; so I had to make a choice as to which one I submitted.

Comments

Hilarious! Although perhaps a bit more of context might be appropriate.

"New Math was a brief dramatic change in the way mathematics was taught in American grade schools during the 1960s. The name is commonly given to a set of teaching practices introduced in the U.S. shortly after the Sputnik crisis in order to boost scientific education and mathematical skill in the population so that the supposed intellectual threat of the Soviet engineers, reputedly highly skilled mathematicians, could be met. In the consciousness of many Americans in the late 20th and early 21st century, New Math is reputed to have been a relatively ineffective approach, sometimes the object of mockery."

"Tom Lehrer wrote a satirical song named New Math which centered around the process of subtracting 173 from 342 in decimal and octal. The song is in the style of a lecture about the general concept of subtraction in arbitrary number systems, illustrated by two simple calculations, and highlights the emphasis on insight and abstract concepts of the New Math approach. Lehrer's explanation of the two calculations is entirely correct, but presented in such a way (at rapid speed, with minimal visual aids, and with snide remarks thrown in) as to make it difficult for most audience members to follow the rather simple calculations being performed. This is intended to poke fun at the kind of bafflement the New Math approach often evoked when apparently simple calculations were presented in a very general manner which, while mathematically correct and arguably trivial for mathematicians, was likely very confusing to absolute beginners and even contemporary adult audiences. Summing up his opinion of New Math is the final sentence from his introductory remarks to the song: "...in the new approach, as you know, the important thing is to understand what you're doing, rather than to get the right answer."

written by rembar