Why I Love Math

I love the neatness of the problems, simple sentences with numbers and fanciful notations that all have meaning. I love that unlike Esperanto, math is truly the universal language.

I love that, higher math which I have never studied notwithstanding, every problem has a solution. I love that you can even get partial credit for the wrong answers, an "Atta girl!" for the effort put into solving the puzzle. Where else do I get that? Certainly not at home - no one gives me credit for a bathroom fully cleaned let alone one only partially done.

I love the cool logic of geometry. It is like the balm of Gilead to my emotional soul. When I lose myself in math, I block out all of the crazy thoughts I can't solve, all of the crying and sadness and euphoria and just feel the knots work out. 8/16 becomes 1/2. Simplify. Simplify. Nothing is too complex. Everything has rules but they are straightforward and understandable.

Circles are my favorite shape. Any line that cuts through the center will be the same length as any other line cutting through the center. There are infinite points of symmetry and, arguably, so many sides that it appears as just one line; the circle embraces the mystery of the infinite in the one. As a woman, I identify with the circle and the curves and I love that it is only made definable by pi, an irrational number, or by trying to square the circle. The feminist in me loves the fact that man can only find the area of a curve by breaking it down into an infinite number of rectangles; I feel as though something is still untouched and while it can be understood enough to work, it still falls short of true comprehension.

In math, I see God. He's there in the symmetry, the graceful, elliptical movement of the planets and the ratio of phi. I find Him in the rule that you can do anything to an algebraic equation as long as you do the same thing to both sides; He has given no law that is merely temporal and my choices here, will effect who I am in the afterlife.

I love graphing and parabolas and hyperbolas. I love limits and the idea of approaching infinity but never getting there. Math is beautiful. It is poetry in numbers. It is the world and life reduced to a simple phrase.

When I think about becoming a math teacher, I think first and foremost of trying to get others to love math. I want them to see the beauty of a quadratic equation and understand that they really will use math on a daily basis, even algebra. I want them to feel at home amongst the numbers and know that there is some part of math (arithmetic to Non-Euclidean geometries) that they can relate to and find meaning in.