Debunking the Math Myth

Bestselling author and political scientist Andrew Hacker will read from his timely and provocative new book, The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions, in which he argues that mastering the high school math sequence of algebra, geometry, and calculus sets up for failure millions of students whose talents might lie elsewhere: “Think of math as a huge boulder we make everyone pull...even if you are going to major in poetry, modern dance, or interior design.”

Join Author and Professor Andrew Hacker, at the Larchmont Public Library on Sunday, October 9, at 4:00pm. Refreshments will be available at 3:30pm. Sponsored by the Friends of the Larchmont Public Library.

As a former math professor, Hacker argues that making math mandatory keeps us from discovering young talent: Why do we inflict mathematics on all young Americans, regardless of their interests or aptitudes? Author of 10 books, Andrew Hacker is currently a political science professor at Queens College.

Andrew Hacker’s 2012 New York Times op-ed questioning the requirement of advanced mathematics in our schools instantly became one of the paper’s most widely circulated articles. Why, he wondered, do we inflict a full menu of mathematics—algebra, geometry, trigonometry, even calculus—on all young Americans, regardless of their interests or aptitudes?

The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions expands Hacker’s scrutiny of many widely held assumptions, like the notions that mathematics broadens our minds, that mastery of azimuths and asymptotes will be needed for most jobs, that the entire Common Core syllabus should be required of every student. He worries that a frenzied emphasis on STEM is diverting attention from other pursuits and subverting the spirit of the country.

In fact, Hacker honors mathematics as a calling (he has been a professor of mathematics) and extols its glories and its goals. Yet he shows how mandating it for everyone prevents other talents from being developed and acts as an irrational barrier to graduation and careers. He proposes alternatives, including teaching facility with figures, quantitative reasoning, and understanding statistics.

The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions has sparked a needed national conversation not just about mathematics but about the kind of people and society we want to be.