Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-24

, temperaments among human beings,
the mathematical and the literary.
There is no reason, 1t is declared,
why every human being cannot add.
subtract, multiply, and so on, as well
as any other human being.
Algebra, geometry, logarithms, CAL
culus and the higher reaches of
mathematics are supposed to be as
simple as 2 plus 2 to the determined
mind.
All you have to do, one Is told. is
TO use little will power, along with
intelligence, and every last Jack of us
VIII turn out little Einsteins.
Well, have It your way. sir. b,,t for
millions Of us there will never be anv
relish for mathematics, either in its
simpler or more complex branches.
Our hats are of to all mathe-
maticians. from Archimedes and Euclid
down, but We know we cannot emulate
them and We shall not try.
Ours Is the distinction of the Literary
temperament"
That term does not mean, necessarily
Of literature.
= It does mean, however that the "cast"
or bent" OF ones trusty mind is not
along the lines of mathematics and
related sciences.
This division of human beings has
been demonstrated SO many times that
there is no possible argument about it
any longer: If, indeed. 1t is possible for
all men to be fundamentally inclined. all
that one can say is that the teaching
methods have been very faulty.
1t will be found, in an overwhelming
number OF cases, that the boy who likes
to read" as the saying is, seldom has
any natural fondness for the mathe-
NAUTICAL arts. He seldom cares for
science, except in a theoretical Way.
does not excel, as a rule, in manual
exercises, such as carpentry, and most
often is given to the artistic as against
the practical.
There Is no greater punishment In
this world than to force a child with a
natural literary turn of mind to Wort.
away at mathematics.
1t is extremely doubtful whether the
reverse can be said with equal Justice
that there Is no greater punishment
than to force the mathematical child
to write themes, for instance.
The difference lies right here. That
while the latter child may find his task
distasteful, he will in the end. through
the very amplitude OF words, find him
self in possession of a finished article
in which no one can point out the one
supreme mistake.
1t may lack all grace, all endeavor
to be good; it may be subnormal even:
but so long as it is dramatically cor
rect no, one can take its author by the
throat and declare. Here, you are no
genius"
The child who adds up a long column
| OF figures, however, is all too painfully
aware where the mistake is. It is right
there at the bottom. under the drawn
line. And it is no trick at all for
teacher to point out the exact divergence
from the perfect sum.
Thus there is something essentially
cheap. almost, about mathematical
results, with their one perfect answer.
| The literary mind knows that there is
no one perfect answer to anything in
life, but that there may be several
answers, many answers. to fit cases.
That is why this type OF mind will
continue to insist that literature, since
1t is flexible, as life is. is more human
and more to be desired, than the hard
pure truths Of mathematics.
There is no place for kindness or love
or faith in mathematics That is why
science must ever be the servant of the
humanities.