[Japanese] Komuro Naoki: “For People Who Hate Mathematics—A Fun Reader Revealing the Mysteries of Mathematics,” translated by Li Yuzhao, Harbin Publishing House, 2nd edition, September 2006
To put it bluntly: a lousy book!
More precisely, this is the worst popular mathematics reader I have seen so far! I had never imagined that a popular mathematics book could be written so poorly.
This book may perhaps let readers know the “importance” of mathematics, and may perhaps even help some readers come to like mathematics. But this introduction to the book is an insult to mathematics!
The issue of the language of God, and the place of the “being” problem in the history of Western mathematics, are indeed worth emphasizing. However, the author’s exposition of the relationship between Judaism-related religion and mathematics always feels a bit forced. Moreover, to say that mathematics is the language of God is by no means limited to the logical issue the author writes about; more importantly, the harmony and wonder of mathematics are linked to the harmony and wonder of the universe, and Western medieval theology portrayed God’s act of creation as the figure of holding a pair of compasses in His hand—that is the meaning of the “language of God.”
The remaining chapters are an even greater insult to the sanctity of mathematics. The author describes the worst side of mathematics—all-around quantification. The author talks about the close relationship between mathematics and capitalism, but that is the ugliest side of mathematics. This is not because I think capitalism is ugly, but because when mathematics becomes an indispensable tool in the service of utility, when the author declares that “if you understand the essence of economics, you will like mathematics,” mathematics is no longer a noble queen, no longer a breathtakingly beautiful pearl, but becomes a gigantic force.
Mathematics is so important, capable of changing the world, capable of dominating the economy, therefore we should like mathematics? Bah, pah! (I really cannot restrain my contempt for the author)
The author’s logic is simple: mathematics is important because it is useful; you should like useful things.
No wonder the author talks at length about proof and logic yet rarely mentions Euclid! He obviously did not pay heed to Euclid’s teaching—that legend has it that once, when a student asked Euclid, “What is the use of studying geometry?” Euclid flew into a rage, had someone give the student a few coins, and said, “Now go back. You actually want to find benefit in learning!”
The author only talks about how Chinese traditional logic is subject-centered and emotion-centered and thus differs from the West, but he says nothing about the greatest feature of Western mathematics: its purity and its transcendence of utility. People who spend all day thinking about what benefit there is should get lost—that is the spirit of Western mathematics. People like the author, who talk so much about the benefits of mathematics, should long ago have been swept out the door and expelled from the student rolls of mathematics! In fact, the author is not a mathematician at all, but merely a self-important economist; when it comes to the true spirit of mathematics, he has not even entered the door!
I dislike doing something, and when I learn that this thing is “important”—that is, very “useful”—will I then come to like it? Impossible! At most, I like the “benefit” itself. To arouse students’ interest in mathematics, one should show them the beauty of mathematics itself—I think that the author himself has not yet truly experienced this beauty; he only knows the delight of economic growth, and knows absolutely nothing of the delight of mathematics, and that kind of delight can never be felt unless one has a mind free of utilitarianism.
I think I’m going to throw this book away. Keeping a book like this on the bookshelf damages one’s image; at the very least, I would never put it on the same shelf with books such as those in Shanghai Education Publishing House’s “Popular Translation Series of Mathematical Classics”…
January 28, 2007, 7:14 p.m.
Latest comments
Gu
2007-01-28 19:52:56 [reply]
Regarding the importance of mathematics in Western culture, Fudan University Press’s M. Kline’s Mathematics in Western Culture, though a bit thick, is an excellent work. M. Kline’s other histories of mathematics are also among the best. A more popular history of mathematics can be found in Hainan Publishing House’s The Story of Mathematics. Hainan Publishing House’s The Story of Geometry is so-so, but it is also acceptable. Shanghai Education Publishing House’s “Popular Translation Series of Mathematical Classics” has many volumes; the level varies greatly, but generally speaking, they are suitable for readers with some mathematical background. There are also some popular works written by Chinese authors on the market, such as Tales from the Mathematician’s Studio, which I have not read, but at least they cannot be put on the same level as that Japanese fellow.
Gu
2007-01-28 20:13:58 [reply]
In the academy of ancient Greece, what sort of course was mathematics (including arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music)? Why did Plato’s Academy have the sign at the entrance, “Let no one ignorant of geometry enter”? Teacher Wu Guosheng often says that, in those days, mathematics was a “moral education” course. Through studying mathematics, people could come to truly experience “freedom,” to experience the wonderful world of ideas above the mundane world, to experience the power of the soul beyond the flesh; therefore, only those who had studied mathematics and experienced the world of mathematics could become noble people and free people. This is the cultural connotation of mathematics.
UNIC
2007-01-28 21:28:53 [reply]
To put it bluntly: a lousy book!
Haha… when I finished reading that sentence, I was already almost laughing to death! Fortunately, I still haven’t read it! Haha…
“…Bah, pah! (I really cannot restrain my contempt for the author)”
Ahahaha…!!!
Fortunately, I only read the preface, and not even all of it; anyway, I discovered that this Japanese fellow was trying to make young Japanese people understand the importance of economic construction, and thus understand mathematics’ role in the economy and so on… that’s what he mentioned in the preface…
I haven’t yet formed an overall impression.
Now it seems—hahahahaha…
But I should also carefully reflect on one issue:
It seems that because I lack confidence in mathematics, I have always placed myself in a very low position, even perhaps—using the word [humble]—to describe it, so it seems that whenever I see someone who calls himself, or is called by others, an expert, I get ready to listen respectfully to what they say…
Sigh… why am I not like this even with philosophy, although it is also a field full of masters; although I know I’m not a blade of green onion? But when it comes to mathematics…
UNIC
2007-01-28 21:30:21 [reply]
Teacher Wu Guosheng often says that, in those days, mathematics was a “moral education” course. Through studying mathematics, people could come to truly experience “freedom,” to experience the wonderful world of ideas above the mundane world, to experience the power of the soul beyond the flesh; therefore, only those who had studied mathematics and experienced the world of mathematics could
become noble people and free people. This is the cultural connotation of mathematics.
Ah…………………… so that’s how it is explained…
Heart
2009-11-08 21:57:13 Anonymous 222.90.76.165 [reply]
How can one say it has no redeeming features at all? Science must first eliminate racial discrimination before it can be called free. Komuro strongly calls on the younger generation to develop an interest in mathematics; that is quite good publicity for the development and dissemination of mathematics, isn’t it.
Of course, what humanity studies must also be “useful” in life; if it is useless, then studying it loses its meaning. Not everyone is Euclid or Gauss.
Gu Cha
2009-11-09 00:01:15 [reply]
These days, “useful” doesn’t need human beings to publicize it at all.
Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.
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