Re: A well kept secret?

[Greg Meredith <lgreg.meredith@biosimilarity.com>]

Dear John, et al,

If this seems overly optimistic, it's worth thinking about calculus, which
> in Newton's day was regarded as comprehensible only by a few experts.
>

i totally agree! Back when i was pushing the process algebras into the
corporate software sector i would regularly "shame" exec/engineers who
claimed the formalism too complex by demonstrating that i could teach the
π-calculus to 13 year-old's and they could use it, fruitfully. There are
branches of mathematics that really require steady application to a steep
learning curve for an extended period of time, but there are many --
computation and category theory being among them -- where there is a core
that really is accessible to anyone with a certain penchant for abstraction.
Engaged and engaging teachers and practitioners are a key ingredient --
without which many go hungry at the table of mathematics.

Best wishes,

--greg

On Sat, Dec 19, 2009 at 2:16 PM, John Baez <john.c.baez@gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear categorists -
>
> At 11:09 PM 12/17/2009, John Baez wrote:
> >
> >> I think it's premature to introduce category theory in the undergrad
> >> curriculum.
> >>
> >
> On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 2:25 PM, Ellis D. Cooper <xtalv1@netropolis.net
> >wrote:
>
>
> >  I think there are enough very interesting simple examples of categories
> > that the language and diagrams could be introduced to high school
> students.
> >
>
> I agree!  Just to be clear: by "premature" I wasn't trying to say that
> undergraduates or even high school students are too young to learn and
> profit from category theory.  I meant that there aren't enough high school
> teachers who understand category theory well enough to teach it - except
> for
> isolated experiments here and there.
>
> Math trickles down.  Right now we need more category theory taught at the
> graduate level, so someday enough professors will understand it well enough
> to teach it at the undergrad level, so that eventually enough high school
> teachers will know enough to teach it at the high school level.
>
> If this seems overly optimistic, it's worth thinking about calculus, which
> in Newton's day was regarded as comprehensible only by a few experts.
>
> Best,
> jb
>

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