61–70 of 167 posts
I still have some Tom Lehrer songs in my playlist. They sound like they're a product of their time but are still relevant today. I am also amused that I learned "new math" in elementary school, but I think it's actually different from the "new math" in his song of that name. I didn't hate it, honestly. "Now the book wants you to do it in base 8." This is actually relevant to my day to day work. (Though in base 8, I h…
He once said very clearly and seriously, "if you can live your life without an audience, do it."
I'm sure Tom experienced lots of the unfavorable aspects of the attention (and perhaps scrutiny) he garnered.
I still have some Tom Lehrer songs in my playlist. They sound like they're a product of their time but are still relevant today. I am also amused that I learned "new math" in elementary school, but I think it's actually different from the "new math" in his song of that name. I didn't hate it, honestly. "Now the book wants you to do it in base 8." This is actually relevant to my day to day work. (Though in base 8, I h…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27PSHASlGUU
He nails the Boston Brahmin accent so perfectly lol.
And of course the elements song is a total banger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2cfju6GTNs
I still have some Tom Lehrer songs in my playlist. They sound like they're a product of their time but are still relevant today. I am also amused that I learned "new math" in elementary school, but I think it's actually different from the "new math" in his song of that name. I didn't hate it, honestly. "Now the book wants you to do it in base 8." This is actually relevant to my day to day work. (Though in base 8, I h…
The "right" way that he presents at the beginning of the song is a way that I've never encountered anyone doing. It's actually fairly interesting:
> Consider the following subtraction problem, which I will put up here: 342 minus 173. Now, remember how we used to do that…Three from two is nine, carry the one, and if you’re under 35 or went to a private school you say seven from three is six but if you’re over 35 and went to a public school you say eight from four is six, and carry the one, and we have 169.
"Three from 2 is 9, carry the one"; it seems to be a completely algorithmic way of doing the calculation, where you end up with the right answer at the end, but it's completely detached from what's actually happening. Tom Lehrer - a math teacher, it should be noted - was mocking the idea of teaching people what was actually happening with subtraction. We see a similar thing today, where people mock the idea of teaching math concepts with Common Core because they think people should just use an algorithm to get the answer, even if they don't understand what's happening.
I was a science major and I said to myself “Adam, I don’t care what Tom Lehrer says, there’s no way you you’re not taking a math class from Tom Lehrer.”
He was bluffing. I stayed and loved every minute of it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Those words haven't (so far as I know) been sung either: they're from one of his spoken preambles, not from any of the songs. (The preambles are generally at least as funny as the songs, at least in my estimation.)
I wouldn't call what he does singing given the normal meaning of the phrase.
I still have some Tom Lehrer songs in my playlist. They sound like they're a product of their time but are still relevant today. I am also amused that I learned "new math" in elementary school, but I think it's actually different from the "new math" in his song of that name. I didn't hate it, honestly. "Now the book wants you to do it in base 8." This is actually relevant to my day to day work. (Though in base 8, I h…
The song "New Math" is actually funny to listen to, I think most people don't pay attention to what's happening in it. In the first verse, he's mocking the idea of teaching kids the concept of borrowing, as if it's a bizarre and confusing concept that almost no one would understand. He was completely wrong, of course, and it's the way almost everyone - at least in the U.S. - does subtraction now. The "right" way that…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The song "New Math" is actually funny to listen to, I think most people don't pay attention to what's happening in it. In the first verse, he's mocking the idea of teaching kids the concept of borrowing, as if it's a bizarre and confusing concept that almost no one would understand. He was completely wrong, of course, and it's the way almost everyone - at least in the U.S. - does subtraction now. The "right" way that…
Wait is he actually criticizing it in this song? I always thought that he was mocking people who didn't understand borrowing by sounding disbelieving about it, when it's in fact obvious how & why it works
Here's a good animated version of the song that shows the different methods. You'll notice that the "silly" New Math method is the way that makes sense to Americans today, and the "simple" method preferred by Lehrer is very confusing for anyone who's not used to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIKGV2cTgqA
Here's more of the intro which makes it clear what's going on. My explanations in brackets:
> Some of you who have small children may have perhaps been put in the embarrassing position of being unable to do your child’s arithmetic homework because of the current revolution in mathematics teaching known as the “New Math”.
> So as a public service here tonight, I thought I would offer a brief lesson in the New Math. Tonight, we’re gonna cover subtraction.
[ New Math is confusing, and he's going to go over how confusing it is in a humorous way.]
> Consider the following subtraction problem, which I will put up here: 342 minus 173. Now, remember how we used to do that…
> Three from two is nine, carry the one, and if you’re under 35 or went to a private school you say seven from three is six but if you’re over 35 and went to a public school you say eight from four is six, and carry the one, and we have 169.
[This is how it was done before the confusing New Math, the "right" way to do it. "Three from two is nine, carry the one."]
> But in the new approach, as you know, the important thing is to understand what you’re doing rather than to get the right answer. Here’s how they do it now…
[The New Math approach is silly because it's so focused on trying to teach kids concepts that it leaves them unable to do basic arithmetic.]
After this comes the first verse, which is designed to make the idea of "borrowing" sound so overly complex that few people would be able to understand it.
I still have some Tom Lehrer songs in my playlist. They sound like they're a product of their time but are still relevant today. I am also amused that I learned "new math" in elementary school, but I think it's actually different from the "new math" in his song of that name. I didn't hate it, honestly. "Now the book wants you to do it in base 8." This is actually relevant to my day to day work. (Though in base 8, I h…
New Math was a response to the Soviet lead in the space race. It was thought that introducing more abstract concepts, like different bases and set theory, would help kids grok math more. It was a fool's game. Just like every other "innovation" in mathematics education since, up to and including Common Core (one of which you probably encountered). At the elementary school level, the only way to increase math proficien…
Have you actually looked into it? I was skeptical too, but then I saw they were trying to teach kids the way I do math. For example, what's 4001 - 3989. The old way would be to borrow and carry three times. But change question to 1+4000-3990+1 and the answer is perfectly simple. Kids I went to school with would literally write out 43-39 with 13-9 and 3-3. Maybe they're just dumb, but you don't have to be a whiz to use these techniques if someone shows you them.
I hope they're still doing some times table memorization.
There's a recording of "Tomfoolery" performance on iTunes!