Mathematics

Over the past half-dozen years, tormented mathematical geniuses have overrun movie screens and theater stages. First, in 1997, there was "Good Will Hunting," a film about a young janitor who possesses a preternatural talent for solving complex numerical problems. A year later came the movie "Pi," which takes its name from the magic number (3.14).

Your June 28 editorial on math education ("The 'Why' of Math") certainly hit one nail on the head: This country is in serious need of math teachers with solid math training. It's not enough to have teachers trained in process and barely competent in subject matter. However, the study you cite that attempts to explain the success of Asian students in math exams misses one crucial factor that may well differentiate Asian students from American students: namely, work ethic. In my many years of teaching experience, I have found that, as a general rule, Asian students work harder.

To Zeke Villalobos, x + y equals nothing but anxiety. He didn't get algebra the first time he took it, and he's having a hard time with it now. But as a high school senior, the 16-year-old San Juan Capistrano boy has no choice. A California law passed in 2000 requires all high school students, starting with this year's senior class, to complete Algebra I to graduate.

Re "No Algebra, No Graduation," Oct. 6: I spent 28 years of my life teaching physics, math and assorted science courses on both the high school and college level. The algebra I taught was necessary for my students to pass my physics courses; however, I always wondered of what use is algebra to the students who do not go on to take the next level of chemistry, electronics or physics. Reading the Algebra I sample problems in the article I wondered of what use is the ability to simplify b raised to the minus-5 power to the plumber, carpenter, salesperson, mail carrier or even a pilot, doctor or lawyer.

Is my kid in a math class? Or a meth class? That's what some San Dimas parents were wondering Friday when they discovered that drug-dealing economics had been added to the curriculum of one seventh-grade mathematics class. Youngsters at Lone Hill Middle School found themselves calculating the cost of buying cocaine, heroin and other illegal narcotics, along with the usual lessons in computation with fractions and decimals and use of algebraic equations.

California students this year showed greater improvement in their math skills than at any time during the last decade, although they still ranked among low scorers nationally, alongside youngsters in Georgia, Arkansas and Hawaii, according to test results released Thursday. Reading scores for California's fourth- and eighth-graders, however, hardly budged and remain in the bottom fourth of states' rankings.

To the countless would-be scientists whose careers foundered on the baffling shoals of calculus, a brilliant physicist who earned his Ph.D. at 20 and snagged a MacArthur "genius" grant at 22 seems an unlikely source of comfort. Yet Stephen Wolfram has some inspiring words for the mathematically challenged. In his self-published and unexpectedly popular book, Wolfram argues that sophisticated mathematics has led science astray in its effort to explain the natural world. "A New Kind of Science" proposes that simple rules, not complex equations, are the key to such profound scientific mysteries as the structure of the universe and the incredible diversity of life on Earth.

Indian scientists said they have solved a mathematical problem that has eluded researchers for 2,200 years--and could be crucial in modern times in improving computer configurations. A three-member team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology in the northern city of Kanpur has devised a method that will make no mistake in quickly determining a prime number.

Do the math: The Los Angeles Unified School District's math test scores are rising fast in elementary grades. For example, as many as 52% of Los Angeles third-graders placed at or above the national average in newly released Stanford 9 scores, up from 28% in 1998. Standardized elementary math programs and better teacher training led to those rises, district officials and education experts said.

UC Irvine announced Monday that it has been awarded a $14.2-million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop teachers in those disciplines for preschool through 12th-grade classes. "What this does," said Juan Francisco Lara, the university's assistant vice chancellor and director of its Center for Educational Partnerships, "is define UCI as the preeminent leader in math and science education in California. This is where the epicenter is."