Math: How Was It Before?

Math as we know it, if not the most difficult, is one of the most difficult subjects. Well, as a kid, I sure did agree. Somehow, our perception that Math is difficult was just inculcated to us by those that are older than us; say our aunts, uncles or older brothers and sisters. Once, I heard a partylist representative saying that Math and Science are feared by students, old and young alike, because at a very young age it is already instilled in their minds that these subjects are difficult and this remained with them as they come to school. While watching the movie, The Story of Maths, I have come to realize that people from long ago were very fond of learning Math because they do not have the pressure of knowing it for the sake of good grades or passing a subject. Instead, they learned math whole-heartedly because they make use of it and they needed it to improve their lives.

 The movie is a breath of fresh air because they tackled Math in a light and exciting note. They even travelled from different countries to learn the history of math and how it evolved. The movie was able to deliver another side of math, that it is not only about numbers but rather, for me, Math is the story of people from before handed down from generation to generation, developed and improved as ever and that is what we have today. The movie had showed that Math did not originate from one place only rather it showed artifacts and interviews from experts and scholars from different parts of the world discussing how each civilization started to make use of Math which made the movie even more factful.

Math may have been confined to specific regions due to certain extent before due to differences in representations in the early times but learning Math now is like knowing a universal language which people from all around the world can understand and communicate. The points in this movie are easy to grasp and it is a good material for those who do not like Math yet. If only the first step in learning math is like this, young students could’ve develop fondness of  math first than hating it or could retain loving it. However, there were parts in the movie where it is difficult to get the idea because of the accent. Yeah, very British! It was really educating and amazing at the same time though, so two thumbs up.