Abstract
A VERY interesting experiment in the teaching of mathematics is being carried out in the University of Bombay. Prof. John Maclean, of Wilson College, has had the commendable courage to break away from the beaten track of academic mathematics by devising a special course for his students, dealing mainly with the uses of elementary mathematical methods in the description of quantitative phenomena. The course forms the subject matter of a recent book by Prof. Maclean entitled “Descriptive Mathematics”, which was noticed in NATURE of March 7, p. 382. In the Bombay Intermediate Arts and Science examination in March, alternative papers were set; one being of the traditional academic type, whilst the other, entitled “Statistics and Nomograms”, was designed to test the efficacy of the new course. Out of a total of 1,400 students, about twenty took this paper. Its questions cover a wide field, and range from Newton's interpolation formula, probability and frequency distributions to transcendental equations and the construction of various types of nomograms. It will be interesting to study the results of this experiment for, judged by the examination paper in conjunction with Prof. Maclean's book, the new course is certainly designed not only to stimulate interest, but also to render a rigorous presentation of the basic ideas in mathematics much more vivid and powerful than that provided by the stereotyped courses.
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Mathematics in Bombay. Nature 138, 21 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138021b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138021b0