Terry - An Unexpected Mathematician

I picked up my car for Terry’s Auto Service – it needed some minor electrical work.

With only a few months of car payments left, I shared with Terry that I was contemplating my option of keeping the car or trading it in. He reminded me that newer cars have even more electronics so I wouldn’t be eliminating all electrical problems – just exchanging the old set for a new one.

Always looking for opportunities to share how important mathematics is in everyday life, I commented how with the electronics they really use a lot of mathematics in their work

Terry’s response made my day, “You know math is not like any other subject. You can’t just memorize it and expect to understand anything.”

BINGO! That’s exactly what I emphasize to my students every day. You can’t memorize your way through math; you have to understand it on the conceptual level.

It’s always a surprise to my students when I refer to them as mathematicians. For most, that moniker conjures up a mental image of an old man who mumbles to himself while filling the chalkboard with unintelligible symbols. But, thanks to Terry, I can add an auto mechanic to my list of mathematicians!

What unexpected mathematician have you met today?

Picture from Images (Note: This NOT Terry)

Tags: auto repair, mathematics, math education, mathematicians

Comments

[ann michael]

Great story - I had a great professor back in grad school (advanced probability and statistics) that always gave open book tests. He said that being able to look up a formula or read about its application was not what he was testing. He was testing our ability to know what to do when - to understand how a real life problem could be addressed by what we had learned. His tests were always the hardest and the most rewarding!