[Edu-sig] T.C. MItts

[Arthur]

I wandered into a little gem of a book, and thought I'd share a reference to
it here, as I think it to have bearing.

The Education of T.C MITS 
What modern mathematics means to you

By Lillian R. Lieber
Drawings by High Gray Lieber

Copyright 1942,1944 renewed 1972

W.W. Notton & Company. Inc.

>From the preface (trying to be true to the typographical structure):

"""

"The past is antiquated
You must be progressive."
"The past as wonderful,
The new-fangled fads are
A sign of decadence"

...

Oh, we know you do not like
Mathematics,
But
We promise not to
use it as an instrument of torture
but to show
what bearing it may have
on the contradictory advice 
mentioned above,
as well as on such things as:

Democracy
Freedom and License
Pride and Prejudice
Success 
Isolationism
Preparedness
Tradition
Progress
Idealism
Common Sense
Human Nature
War
Self-reliance
Humility
Tolerance
Provincialism
Anarchy
Loyalty
Abstract Art
And so on.

"""

The authors, methodology for communication:

"""
To do this VIVIDLY,
we use pictures whenever possible.
And top do it 
CLEARLY,
we use the clearest language
man has invented:
Mathematics.
"""

She also apparently wrote a wonderful book on Relativity, which I have
ordered (paying dearly for a vintage copy).

She would be bruised to think that, I think, that women have less of an
interest in these subjects than men.

Art